After This, Never Trust a Rock
by Barton-Lover2
Summary: Returning back the farm should be a nice thing. But with anything in Clint's life, things have to be difficult. On his farmhouse, Cooper finds a very strange rock. With a warning from their newest addition to the household, Clint tries to take it away only to find himself far, far away and surrounded by many non-human looking creatures. How is he going to return?
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 - On the Road Again

Returning back from the 'dead' was much stranger that Clint expected it to be. Laura was, of course, ecstatic to have her husband back. Pietro nearly blasted Clint to another state in his haste to hug the archer. Arrow was even ecstatic to have his master home. The pup barking and jumping around the archer nearly made it hard to hear anyone's greetings. Thankfully, none of the Barton kids had been told what happened. So, Nate just simply asked if Clint was done being busy. New Asgard was not fully set up but all of the 'Avengers' were no longer needed. With new laws in place to fit in on Earth, Thor quickly slid into his role as All-Father/King. Beside him stood Val, a noble warrior that many Asgardians respected.

Returning with Clint, Loki was unsure what his own role would be. Most of Asgard (or what was left) still either didn't trust or like him. The trickster had made too much history with so many that it was hard for anyone to realize he was changed, even after traveling with him for nearly a year. Steve offered to allow Loki to be an Avenger if the trickster wished. Tony was forced to once again mention that the Accords were still active, even if the others had been cleared, but Loki had already declined the offer. While it would have been nice to have a trained magic user readily available, outside of Strange (who had already ditched them for his Sanctum), Loki just couldn't do it. In the end, Loki asked to join Clint and his family in 'retirement.' And before Clint could even attempt to agree, Laura claimed he was welcome to come.

Wanda, Steve, Bucky and Natasha all were given a free pass to return to Wakanda in which Tony would keep the JSC off their backs. Everyone knew that they'd go back into basically being vigilantes but Tony refused to stop them. So, that's how Loki found himself traveling with the Barton family and Pietro in their RV.

"You know you'll never actually retire," Laura joked as the family said their goodbyes and headed off to find a new home. Pietro snickered at Laura's statement. It was true. Clint hadn't settled well before and it only took two seconds for the archer to join Steve's side in the Accords deal. None of the kids or Laura could even attempt to speak to him about it. He just said he'd be there. "Second Steve calls again, you'll be off."

"Last time I didn't die," Clint softly retorted after checking to make sure the younger kids weren't in hearing range. Lila (12) had gone into the back to take a nap (beauty rest) with Arrow while Cooper (15) and Nate (2) seemed to be watching TV (a TV that always had signal thanks to Shuri). Laura winced at the archer's statement. Loki and Clint had only returned less than a week before. It was still painful for those left behind to think about it. But Clint couldn't help focusing on it. What would have happened if he had died?

"Technically, you didn't die. Just your soul was removed from your body," Loki pointed out. Clint gave the Lie-smith a quick glare before focusing back on the road. Totally not the point that Clint was trying to make.

"Either way. I'll tell him no," Clint stated as if he could hold up this argument. Pietro snorted at the archer.

"And get Rogers 'I'm disappointed in you' stare? Yeah, right. You'll be running to get to him," Pietro replied. Clint sighed deeply. There was no good way around this. No matter what choice he made, if Steve ever called Clint would be disappointing someone. Might as well have it be Steve though. He needed to think of his family and after these Accords deal that made them lose their home, no. There was no way he could go back.

"Loki could always go in my place," Clint tried, a pleading glance at the trickster's way. Loki let out a huff of disbelief but Clint could hear the edge of wonder. Maybe Loki would.

"I have no loyalty to the Captain or to Midgard," the Lie-smith mentioned. Clint gave him a sidelong look. After the time Clint had spent in Loki's memory, the archer couldn't actually believe him. Loki rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Strangely enough, Loki actually didn't mind that Clint had so close of an insight into him. It actually made him feel almost 'loved.' "I said no already."

"And if Steve mentions Thor will be fighting?" Clint wondered, trying hard to not give Loki a disbelieving face as he needed to pay attention to the road. Loki's hands dug into his arms, betraying his true feelings on this matter. Laura smirked, knowing where Clint was going with this. Loki likely would give in just as easily as Clint would.

"If the oaf wants to, I can't control him," Loki gritted out, turning to look out his side window. Clint snorted. He could hear Loki's uncomfortable tone. The trickster didn't like the idea of being able to help Thor but chose not to.

"If Uncle Steve calls, Dad can go," Cooper announced, moving up to the front of the RV to join the conversation. In his hands was a bag of popcorn. Apparently he had been making a snack when he heard what they were discussing.

"What?" Laura asked looking over to her eldest middle child. Cooper shrugged. As the typical 'man of the house' whenever Clint left on missions, Cooper had grown into a strong young man.

"If Uncle Steve really needs help from Dad, he should go. They wouldn't allow anything to happen to him," Cooper pointed out. Everyone winced as they thought of Hela removing Clint's soul. No Avenger could have stopped that from happening. Loki followed it by letting out a soft chuckle.

"If Captain America is calling on your father for help, he must be desperate," Loki stated, his voice light and partially sarcastic sounding. Clint glanced at him, his eyes slightly narrowed. If Loki was childish, he would have respond to Clint by sticking out his tongue.

"Seriously, man?"

"Does that mean you were in New Mexico?" Laura snipped, her own voice daring Loki to continue bashing her husband. Both Clint and Loki stiffened. While neither of them mentioned anything to the other Avengers about the full truth, they also weren't entirely sure if it was good to state now. It was something that likely should have been shared with the others. Thanos was coming. Honestly, it didn't matter if Loki said as much. They couldn't stop him. Laura looked between the two. "Did I miss something?"

"Uh..." Clint started, glancing at Loki once again. This was mostly the trickster's story to tell, not Clint's. Loki frowned. He hadn't admitted anything to Thor or Odin about this but... After speaking with Frigga in his memories, maybe it was a good idea to mention it to someone.

"Clint was the best choice that day. He's smarter and stronger than most people realize," Loki admitted. Laura's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Loki to complement Clint. The archer gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. That was not what he thought Loki would mention. "It was thanks to him that I was able to lose."

"You wanted to lose?" Laura wondered. Loki nodded, shifting in his seat a bit so he could look at Laura.

"I was also influenced by the Mind Stone, or Scepter as you people call it. While I could not actively fight the control, by taking Clint and letting him do as he wanted, the whole attack failed," Loki mentioned. And that's what Clint wanted Loki to admit. But still, the last part was unexpected.

"Clint made the plan to steal back the Reality Stone. Even with a lot of people not believing him, he was able to infiltrate Hydra, fix Bucky's programming, and when the plan began to come undone, he was able to salvage it," Pietro added. Laura smiled, draping herself over Clint's seat to give him a quick hug. Clint smirked but said nothing. He couldn't believe some many people wanted to constantly compliment him over something. It felt good, but wrong.

"Fury and Phil always said he didn't give himself much credit. When Clint first joined S.H.I.E.L.D, he went through handlers like the kids go through chocolate," Laura laughed. Cooper chuckled, knowing how much chocolate they all went through. Pietro barked out a laugh. Loki couldn't stop himself from smirking as well, glancing at Clint. The archer had a face that made Loki freeze. It was a face he knew rather well. One that he himself sported a good deal of time in his youth. Something was not only upsetting Clint but he also didn't seem comfortable with the praise.

"Coulson was my last shot," Clint told the group, shifting his grip on the steering wheel. Everyone stilled. Clint had never mentioned this to anyone, except Natasha. Only Fury, Coulson, Natasha, Hill and ex-Director Peggy Carter knew how close Clint gotten to being removed from S.H.I.E.L.D. "If he rejected me, I would have gone to jail."

"What for, Dad?" Cooper asked. Clint sighed. He really didn't want to get into this. But Cooper was old enough to understand and Laura was looking curiously at him. Even Loki had his eyes glued on the archer.

"Murder," he whispered. The whole RV fell silent at that admission. "I... I wasn't always on the side of good. Started out when I was sixteen. Was still in the circus."

"You lived in a circus?" Pietro called. Clint nodded, making the speedster snort lightly in surprise. Laura tightened her hands on Clint's shoulders. Loki even set his lips into a firm line. He hadn't gone all that deep into Clint's memories. Mostly he had just stayed within the memories of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"It's how I got my name. They called me 'The Amazing Hawkeye, World's Greatest Marksmen.' What I didn't know then was that the circus was a cover for a ring of thieves. Barney, he got involved with them pretty quick. Being an ignorant little brother, I trusted him. Buck, my mentor, and Jacques, the Swordsman, they supposedly forced Barney..." Clint explained, cutting off at the end.

"That's when your brother nearly killed you?" Laura mumbled, remembering the day that Clint explained many of the scars that where plastered to his body. Clint nodded his head. Loki's mouth opened slightly in surprise. He hadn't realized just how much they were similar.

"They all packed up and left me for dead. Still don't know who saved me or what exactly happened. Just woke up in a hospital handcuffed to the bed," Clint continued.

"That's when Uncle Phil got you?" Cooper asked. Clint shook his head.

"No. Thank god for being a curious kid. The escape artist at the circus had taught me how to get out of handcuffs. Once free, I ran. For a long time I lived on the streets, using my archery skills to try and earn enough money to at least get one meal a day. Most times I was lucky enough to eat once a week. Then, during one of my 'shows,' some mobster or something came to me. They offered me food, shelter and money if I went with them. I thought it might have been another circus or something. Boy was I wrong," Clint chuckled darkly. He shook his head. "They waited till I was strong enough before they demanded 'payment' back for working for them. Their version of payment was me carrying out hits for them."

"Oh," Laura gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth in surprise. Pietro shifted his weight, really not liking where this was going. Cooper paled. His father was his idol. How could he have been this mean?

"Like the circus, they didn't take too kindly for me refusing them. I got tortured real bad. Nearly died a few times as well and watched as others were killed for my refusal. Eventually I couldn't help but actually do it. After that, my life went into a downward spiral. By the time I escaped my... I guess captors. I was in too deep. I had made too big a name for myself in the assassination business and had made a _lot_ of enemies. Had to continue to accept jobs just so I had enough money to stay on the move. But, this time I made sure all the jobs I accepted had a criminal record or criminal activity. That's what got me on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar. I kept them running after me for nearly six months before I couldn't run from them anymore. I got caught. But instead of killing me, or locking me away, Fury offered me a job. I'd get protection, a stable home spot, and whatever else I needed. Course, my other choice was to rot in so deep a pit that no one would even notice I was gone."

"So you joined S.H.I.E.L.D," Loki finished, understanding dawning on him. Apparently the trickster wasn't alone in 'crappy' upbringing. Clint nodded.

"Jail isn't really a safe place for a nineteen year old. S.H.I.E.L.D offered me a good deal," Clint added.

"And now, look where you ended up," Laura praised, skipping over the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D had been revealed as Hydra. Yet again, she reached over the chair to give the archer the best hug she could give. Clint shrugged. A lot of shit happened in his life. But that shit turned him into the man they all saw today. And if Clint was being honest with himself, he wouldn't change a thing.

"Are we gonna go back home?" Cooper wondered, desperate to change the subject after such a morbid topic. Laura gripped Clint tighter and the archer's face blanked out. Pietro let out a soft groan, not liking where this was gonna go. Loki couldn't help but frown at them.

"Too many people know about it, kiddo," Clint mentioned, his eyes flicking up to the mirror in order to see Cooper's face. The boy shrugged, not really understanding that S.H.I.E.L.D hadn't protected Clint from making enemies, or keeping old ones off his trails. Now that all the files were out there, Clint was in even more danger of retaliation from someone.

"So," Cooper replied. "That place was a fortress. Uncle Tony even added in more security to keep us safe."

"The town already knows who we are," Laura softly mentioned, not really able to disagree with Cooper. Going back home would be completely amazing. Clint frowned, wishing he could turn and see Laura's face. She had never mentioned this before. Then again, if she had, Clint would have made them all move long before this mess. "We wouldn't have to start from the beginning again."

"And the first group who comes after us for revenge? It's not safe," Clint mumbled, his resolved cracking. If the town already knew about him and he hadn't been bothered by them, maybe it could work. The town had actually realized who Clint was after the first Avenger's press conference only days after the Battle of Manhattan. Amazingly enough, no one reacted to it outside of asking Laura to say 'thanks' to the archer. At the next town meeting, the mayor asked that no one talk about Clint living in their town and to leave him be.

"Clint, people will find us sooner or later. The world knows you have a family. We'll just add more security. I'm sure Tony would help, even with what happened," Laura told the archer. Clint gritted his teeth. They were all valid points.

"And, you won't be alone. Me an' Loki are there now," Pietro pointed out. Clint sighed, his eyes flicking quickly to see Loki blankly looking out the windshield.

"Loki?" Clint softly asked, wondering if the trickster would even be willing to help protect his family. He knew Pietro would and if he called, any of the Avengers would be willing to as well. Loki stiffened. "You okay with this?"

"If you are so worried about it all, I can do some protections spells on the grounds and your family," Loki whispered, his voice sounding much more caring that the Lie-smith intended it to be. This time, Loki's eyes flickered to Clint in time to see the archer's surprised face. Loki shrugged. "I did the same thing for the Warrior's Three and Sif every time we adventured."

"But not Thor?" Laura wondered. Loki shrugged again.

"Mother's magic was greater than my own, he was safe," Loki admitted, turning back to look out the windshield again. Clint smirked.

"I'm guessing none of them knew?" the archer chuckled, remembering how much the group had heckled Loki. The trickster snorted.

"Norns, no," Loki huffed in amusement. "Not my fault they couldn't sense it."

"Is it true that you are a mommy to a horse?" Nate's youngish voice carried as the boy came up front. Loki paused, turning to the kid. Clint couldn't help but suck on his lips to not laugh hysterically at Loki's face. Pietro let out a snort and Laura again covered her mouth to hide her smile.

"Uncle Steve was teaching us some Norse mythology," Cooper explained, his own attention focused on Loki. Clint snorted, unable to hold it in any longer. Loki sent the archer a quick glare before focusing on the children. He wasn't going to just leave it as this. While Loki was proud of his children and loved to speak of them, it seemed only right that he should give something truthful of Thor. But the trickster paused for half a moment. What had happened to Sleipnir? Had his child still been left in his stall? Had Hela gotten to him before?

"As true as Thor dressing as a bride," Loki answered, throwing off the questions about his son. This got Clint to give in, cracking up. Loki smirked trying hard to think of anything other than his son. He'd have to send a message to Heimdall asking about him later. For now, any chance Loki had at making fun of his brother was one that he'd always exploit.

"He mentioned that a few years back. We thought he was joking," Clint cackled.

"Nay. Mjolnir was trapped deep in Jotunheim. The giant, Thrym, demanded Freya, a goddess from Vanaheim, to marry him. Heimdall and I suggested that Thor act as the bride to get close to Mjolnir. We got Thrym drunk enough to not notice that Thor wasn't Freya. When the ceremony started, Thor got Mjolnir back and..." Loki explained, pausing at the end with a glance at Nate. He really didn't want to have to explained the rest of the story. Especially since the kids seem to love Thor.

"Slaughtered them all!" Nate happily finished before pausing at looking everyone over. "What does 'slaughtered' mean?."

"He actually gave them a very harsh speech and threatened to have Odin bring war upon them," Loki lied, figuring he could just explain the myth was different from the truth. As the trickster turned back around, he noticed Laura mouthing a 'thank you' to him. It felt good. Something Loki hadn't been fishing for when avoiding the truth of what happened.

"Like Uncle Steve does to Uncle Tony?" Cooper jokingly asked, keeping up with Loki's lie to protect his younger brother. Clint snorted as Loki smiled. Pietro laughed.

"Yes, just like that. Now, it's getting close to lunch. Why don't we go decide what we want and maybe decide on a movie to watch tonight," Laura suggested, pushing Cooper and Nate toward the back of the RV. As they left, Pietro slipped to stand between Clint and Loki.

"Gonna be nice to head back to the farm," Pietro sighed. Loki glanced at Clint. He hadn't know that the home was a farm.

"Well, not when you realize we're actually gonna have to make it a working farm. Laura lost her job and... Doubt I'll get money from the Avengers now that I'm retired," Clint pointed out. Pietro groaned loudly. Clint chuckled. "We'll discuss it more when we get there."

* * *

**Yay! I made the edits on time! Okay, as there are edits that follow the series from before, you may not understand some references. I'll look into maybe reposting the edits here but for now, Archive of Our Own already has After Loki on it and soon will get Clint is What.**

**Darius is doing good. Currently making a food mess in the house... But, good. We had an adventurous weekend. Sunday we saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra which was an amazing show! We sat front row so the band members could really see us and tended to wave to Darius when they had a second to do so. Monday night we went to Monday Night Raw. We sat third row TV side. If you watch Raw then look for the woman in purple and blue hair with glasses. That's me. Darius is the child in the purple Firefly Funhouse shirt. Had a troublesome week just because of lack of sleep for all of us, but we seem to be catching up pretty good now. Baby Jason is doing good. Yesterday, everyone had him laughing by playing various games. This morning, he threw up on his parents after being put in the car. Hopefully he isn't ill.**

**And that's it. See you next Friday (or Saturday) with the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 - Magic

Considering the family hadn't been at the farm in a few years, it was surprisingly well maintained. It looked as if someone had been taking care of it. That meant someone must be living in it. Some squatter or something. That really ticked Clint off. After everything that had happened lately, he really wasn't in the mood for squatters. Why the hell would someone do that? Wait, no, more like how the hell had someone done it? The security systems installed in the house should have kept people out, or alerted Clint. But, Tony could have turned it all off. Maybe the JSC was inside waiting for them.

When driving toward the front of the house, surprisingly, didn't draw any of the people out made Clint wonder. Could he have been wrong? But Clint knew better. They could just be waiting for him to get out or let down his guard. He wasn't going to risk anything. Especially in case it wasn't a squatter but was an enemy that decided to wait for Clint to return. Laura appeared behind him as he pulled the RV to a stop. It took her a moment before she realized what had the archer on edge. Loki frowned, looking about. This wasn't what he had expected.

"Clint?" she called.

"Stay here, be ready to get out of here," Clint ordered, slipping out of the drivers seat without shutting the RV off. Laura quickly took his place. Loki glanced at the archer, wondering if he should follow. Clint shook his head and Loki quickly realized that Clint was trusting the trickster to watch over his family. It was oddly soothing. So far only Wanda had willingly placed that much trust in him.

"Old man?" Pietro asked. Again Clint shook his head no as he grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows that had been stashed behind Loki's seat, readily available to grab should the need arise. Carefully, Clint slipped out of the RV and headed toward the house. The kids came up front, feeling the tension. Arrow even headed up, making sure to slid into the space between Laura and Loki with a whine. Cooper and Lila immediately knew something was wrong. Knowing this could go badly, Cooper placed his hands on Nate's shoulders, readying to pull the kid away before he saw too much.

Everyone tensed as Clint headed up onto the porch. He quickly scanned through both downstairs front windows on that side of the house before checking the door. To Clint's surprise, it was locked. His key to the house was back in the RV with everyone else so, the archer had to go to his backup plan. The house didn't have an extra key hidden somewhere on the grounds. Instead, a secret panel next to the door that revealed a hand scanner that the entire family was set to. Clint mentally noted to add Loki to the scanner even as he did so and unlocked the door. A moment later, Clint entered the home, his bow ready and an arrow already nocked.

"How long do we wait?" Loki questioned, glancing at Laura for help. Laura tensed but said nothing. That hadn't really ever been discussed. Clint always assumed there would be a shoot out or enemies charging out of the house. Considering nothing happened so far, Laura wasn't sure what to do. After a few more minutes, Clint reappeared at the door way. His bow was left somewhere in the house. With a large smile, he waved to the group. Laura heaved a sigh of relief and turned off the RV.

"We're home," the woman needlessly announced. Cooper, Lila and Nate quickly rushed off the RV and ran straight to the house, Arrow happily barking behind them. Laura laughed, getting up and heading out herself. Pietro glanced once at Loki before going as well. Loki hesitated but he finally left as Laura made it to Clint.

"Tasha was here," Clint told Laura as Loki left the RV. It made sense that the spy had made herself at home on the farm. No one would think to look for her there. As everyone made their way into the house, Loki found himself stopping at the edge of the porch. Clint turned back around to see the Lie-smith awkwardly standing there. He snorted. "Come on, I'll show you around and set some things up for you."

Loki couldn't stop his sigh of relief. While it was true that Clint and Laura had allowed him to travel with them. This was their home. A safe place. And Loki wasn't sure he'd be allowed to intrude. He had thought Clint would have made him live out of the RV on the property. The tour of the house ended up being rather quick. Living room to the left of the door, dining room to the right. Kitchen and half bathroom in the back. Upstairs was four smaller bedrooms and the master bedroom. Not really much to the place but after the tour Loki couldn't help but notice the kids (and Pietro) had already separated into their rooms. Leaving no room for him. Where would he stay? As he and Clint came back down, Laura met them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hon, where is Loki gonna room in?" the woman inquired, a pad and pen in front of her. Clint paused, mentally thinking about the rooming situation. Pietro was staying in what was considered the guest room and each kid of course had their own room. And the only other bedroom was Laura's and his.

"Uh," Clint smartly replied. Pietro glanced at Cooper. The younger boy nodded.

"I can move to Cooper's room and Loki can take the guest," the speedster suggested. Loki frowned. That would not do. He would not kick one of the family out of their room. But he also didn't want to sleep on the couch or anything like that. Without fully thinking it through, Loki grabbed Clint's arm and began dragging the archer upstairs again.

"Come with me," the trickster pretty much demanded. Clint quickly lost his balance before he knew what was happening.

"Hey!" Clint yelped but quickly got his feet under him and followed. Curious, the rest of the family came upstairs as well. At the top of the stairs, Loki looked at each end of the hall. One end was near the bathroom and Nate's room with the master bedroom beyond. The other was Pietro and Cooper. Nodding, Loki headed to the latter side. Clint slowly trailed after him, allowing the others room to get up and watch as well. Loki focused briefly on Clint. "What are you doing?"

"Magic isn't all evil," the trickster reminded before focusing back on the end of the hall. He muttered a quick spell before Clint could protest. Right away, the window that had been there stretched out and turned into a doorway, a wooden door with some light golden inlay already set. Clint raised an eyebrow at the display. Huffing, Loki opened the door to show a brand new bedroom suddenly attached to the house.

"Woah!" the three kids called before rushing past all the adults to check the room out. Loki gave them a soft smile as Clint glanced at him. Laura's lips were set in a straight line, unsure how to respond to this. Loki couldn't help but sigh. He had assumed that at least one of them would like this sight. But Laura didn't seem all that pleased at the moment.

"There is no outside change to your home," the Lie-smith told the adults. Clint could only stare at him in surprise. "I can add as many rooms as you wish. They will all be like you built them into the home but show no outer signs they are here and they will only vanish with a removal spell."

"Thank you," Laura said, moving to place a hand on Loki's arm. Apparently Laura just needed to know that her home hadn't been changed. Loki stiffly nodded. He really wasn't getting used to all these kinds words and pleased atmosphere over his use of magic. Gracefully, Laura headed into the room. As she did, a rush of air passed by and suddenly Clint and Loki found themselves alone in the hall.

"I'm guessing I'm gonna have to get used to casual usage of magic," Clint flippantly sighed out. Loki smirked. That was more what he was used to. But Clint didn't sound mad about it. Just, okay or resigned. Loki swore than and there that he would do everything possible to get Clint to be okay with magic. It would be important for Clint to understand what he could do.

"I will get you to learn that magic isn't inherently evil," Loki informed the archer. Clint snorted at him. He had never really made mention that his disliked magic being done around him. Just that he didn't want it to be done on him or even having him do it himself. But, he also had a limit and Clint wasn't sure Loki would respect that.

"Still don't mean I wanna learn," he replied before turning and walking away from the new addition. Loki couldn't help but frown. Clint hadn't even been willing to enter the room. This was going to be harder than the trickster thought. But, he'd 'break' down Clint's resolve. Then again, maybe Loki should mention it to Laura. She could help... Right?

Days passed as the family tried to resettle into their home. The town was glad to hear the Bartons had returned home. With the Accords having cleared Clint of wrong doings, there was no reason for him not to stay. They all knew that Clint was a good person. Many of the elderly women began visiting to drop off food as a welcome back gift. Clint and Laura were typically the only ones who answered the door for this.

To the rest of the family's pleasure, Loki performed magic in front of Clint at every opportunity. Clint just gritted his teeth and said nothing. Especially when Loki used magic to help with chores around the house. Laura really enjoyed that. But it didn't take long before Laura and Pietro began to notice the tension forming between the archer and Lie-smith. Mostly the duo agreed to let it run it's course but eventually one of them would crack. The final straw for Clint ended up being when Loki used magic to ready the fields for the new plantings.

"CUT IT OUT!" Clint screamed at Loki, spinning on him. Loki stiffened in surprise but kept the pleased smile on his face as Laura and Pietro exchanged a look. This was going to be much worse than anyone thought. Maybe they should have intervened.

"Kids, why don't we go inside and get ready for lunch," Laura suggested, ushering the kids into the house. Cooper nodded, helping to lead his siblings into the house. But as the kids entered the house, Laura paused on the porch, looking out at the remaining members. She should stay out here and make sure that Clint didn't go too far.

"It's a simple spell. No trouble at all," Loki responded in a flippant tone. He had expected this explosion days ago. So, he was partly prepared for it. He just hadn't expected it to bother him as much as it did. The archer had trusted him and Loki was seemingly walking all over it. Clint snarled at him.

"Stop with the fucking magic," Clint snapped. Laura quickly came off the porch and headed to her husband's side. It was a well known fact that Clint didn't care for magic. Heck, Clint hadn't cared for magic even before his run-in with Loki. And it only seemed to spiral from there.

"Why? I have it. Why not _use_ it?" Loki asked, stressing the idea of casual use. Clint gritted his teeth, glaring at the magic user. Loki simply raised an eyebrow, daring Clint to say something.

"Clint, what's going on with you? He's being helpful," Laura added, staring at her husband. Clint said nothing, his glare flicking from Loki to his wife and back. Loki stood straighter, his eyes fixed it a way that showed he wanted Clint to say why. The trickster had most of the family on his side for this. As much as he didn't want to fight Clint, Loki was determined to get Clint to think of the idea of practicing magic.

"Is this because of Clint's magic?" Pietro wondered, looking at the trio. Loki glanced at the speedster as Clint stiffened, his anger draining away. The Lie-smith hadn't expected Pietro to spill the beans. He had wanted Clint to do it himself. Laura turned to look at Loki and Pietro.

"What?" she mumbled. Clint looked away from them all for a moment before replying.

"It's nothing," Clint growled, grabbing at Laura's arm to drag her away from the other two. Loki looked back to the confused woman. Apparently he was going to add Laura's help to his quest. He had hoped that Clint would have been willing to tell his wife on his own. But she didn't deserve to be in the dark any longer. Loki wouldn't allow it.

"Since New Mexico, Clint's ability to use magic has grown. Each time he runs into more magic, he basically absorbs it and converts it to his own," Loki informed, getting a bit louder as Laura was forced away. Clint snarled at Loki, dropping Laura's arm. Already the archer knew this wasn't going to end how he wanted it to. Laura turned to look at the archer in surprise.

"You have magic?" she repeated. Clint grimaced and looked away from everyone. It was bad enough that most of the Avengers knew about it (thanks Wanda, Steve and Bucky). This just made it worse.

"Technically, all living souls have magic inside them but often the amount inside is not strong enough to actually practice with it. Clint's magic when I first ran into him was already wavering on that line. Since then, he has become rather powerful," Loki explained. Clint paled a bit. That was something Laura could have certainly gone without knowing. While Frigga had insinuated as much and Heimdall said it with the mention of Farsight, Clint was still tense about the idea.

"Shut up," Clint ordered, not wanting to hear more about it and certainly not wanting Laura to know about it. Laura moved closer to Loki, shifting so she could see Clint's face.

"So... What does-" Laura started. Clint sighed, looking to Loki but the trickster just stared at him.

"I'm not going to use magic. _Ever_," Clint replied, his eyes shifting to look at Laura. Laura frowned.

"Why-" she began.

"My experience with magic hasn't been anything like you've been seeing lately. You've heard what the Avengers fight against. Lot of that involved magic. Hell, that Soul Stone that was used on me was magic," Clint interrupted. Laura's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"But you're fine with Wanda?" she pointed out even though it sounded like a question. Clint huffed out a laugh.

"My problem ain't with the users. Just the idea of magic itself. I... I can't do it," Clint responded, his eyes twitching to look at the ground. Loki furrowed his brow. It made sense that Clint wasn't bothered by the users. He hadn't had an issue with it while in Loki's memories and the archer worked alongside magic users on a regular basis. But the casual use that Loki had been doing with his magic must have really bothered Clint. Almost as if he could tell what Loki was trying to do. Laura frowned at the archer.

"I don't hear anyone telling you that you should," Laura mentioned. Clint sighed, his gaze shifting back up to Loki. Yes, Loki hadn't said anything about it to the archer in a while but... It was kinda obvious that that's what Loki wanted in the end of all this. The trickster figured that if Clint could see the benefits of magic, he'd be more inclined to use it. Loki said nothing, didn't even give the archer a reaction. "Though, if I had the ability to use magic, I'd take it."

"Laura," Clint whined at her, shifting back a step. Laura simply smiled at him in such a way that the archer knew she was basically patronizing him. The sight had him beginning to relent. Whether it was over Loki's use of magic or Clint attempting his own, Loki could not say. Pietro even smiled at the exchange. Nearly biting his lip, Loki realized he needed Clint to know what he could be getting into. He'd likely lose the ground he had gained here, but it was important. There was no way around this. Clint's choice couldn't be one that he took lightly.

"Magic use is very different than most people think it is. If you start with even one simple spell, you can't just shut it off. All magic users must practice their magic at least once a month or suffer from a build up and then explosive release," Loki warned, wincing a bit even as he spoke. Clint stiffened, his gaze turning back to a glare at him. And there was the two steps back that Loki feared. But he couldn't like to Clint. Not again.

"No," the archer stated before spinning on his heel and walking away. Laura sighed and looked back at Loki.

"Keep using your magic. I'll talk to him," Laura said to the trickster before chasing her husband. Loki nodded, looking out over the field he had prepared for the family. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to push the archer as hard as he did. And even now, Clint had wanted to do this farming on his own. Prove that he could do more than just be an assassin and spy. Loki had just taken that from him. Beside him, Pietro scoffed.

"Time to plant," the speedster announced. Loki felt a brush of air beside him and watched as the field kicked up a bunch of dirt. A second later, Pietro appeared next to the Lie-smith again. "And done."

With a small laugh, Loki quickly cast a rain spell over the field. In for a penny and all that. Pietro laughed as well and held up a hand for a high five. Loki paused, staring at the hand in confusion. After a second, Loki slowly raised his own. Once high enough, Pietro gently patted their hands together. As they both turned back to the field, neither could help but think about how they originally told Clint that this idea was going to fail. But now, knowing that just the two of them could easily take care of the entire field well... Maybe, _maybe_, they had a shot of this working for the best.

* * *

**And another chapter. Belated Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it. And hope whoever is out there shopping gets good deals this Black Friday. Personally, I'm waiting for Cyber Monday, lol.**

**Darius is doing great. Real excited that his Granddad could take him after our thanksgiving meal and now he'll stay over there till Sunday evening. Or, at least I believe that's what is planned... He's been having a blast at school and daycare. Finally hitting the stage where getting him ready in the morning is hard, but... Once dressed he's all excited. Hubby and I saw Frozen 2 last weekend. Amazing movie but dear lord, I wish someone warned us about Anna's song... I think both of us cried as it pretty much explained our past year. And getting my husband to cry over something like that is pretty much near impossible. Ugh. Baby Jason is well. Slobbering all over the place. I could care less but it seems like every other second his parents are trying to clean him up. He's a baby, gaining teeth. He's gonna drool all over the place, lol.**

**Can't wait to see you all next week! ^-^**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 - Space

Clint relented in allowing Loki to use magic around the farm. But there was a limit. Especially when Loki tried to grow fruits and vegetables out of season. Even Laura agreed with Clint on that one. So, Loki only did it for the family. Months passed and everyone fell into a routine. Clint typically tended to escape outside, running, training and certainly shooting. He had actually enjoyed Loki's magical spell that made the range longer than it looked, which Loki had given him as an apparently late birthday gift. The spell even increased the distance as Clint hit the mark to make it more challenging. Loki could tell that brought the archer one step closer again. Now the Lie-smith just needed to figure out other ways for Clint to personally enjoy magic.

Pietro and Loki tended to work the fields, making sure everything was growing right, there were no weeds coming in and no animals had invaded. Laura took to caring for the kids like she used to do but after the first month, Laura went into town and got a job. There was a small debate over Clint possibly getting a job as well. But eventually it was decided that that might not be a good idea.

"Hey Dad! Can Pietro and I head out to the stream and search for rocks?" Cooper called, knowing his father still didn't really like them going out of his sight. Even with Cooper on the brink of being sixteen and Pietro was almost twenty one, the archer couldn't do it. With everything that had happened and knowing that enemies always waited till his guard was down, Clint couldn't allow it. Clint paused in his chore of cutting some more wood for the upcoming winter storm before looking over to the duo.

"It's hunting season so, I'll join ya," Clint replied, grabbing his things to put them all away. He trusted both of them as they were old enough to wander around on their own. But considering everything that happened, Clint didn't like letting any of them wander around alone. The security measures around the house made it that he felt safe leaving Lila with Nate and Laura would be home soon. Loki, who had just finished going over the yard, headed over to Clint.

"'Search for rocks?' Are the ones here not good enough?" Loki wondered. Clint snorted, unable to help himself.

"Come with and I'll show you," Clint retorted. Loki frowned but nodded his head. This was one of the first times that Clint was easily communicating with him and not in angered tones or hostility. He was being civil and was willing to spend more time with the trickster. Most of the anger and hostility between the two had been over the whole idea of magic. Like Loki had thought before, with Laura now knowing of Clint's magic, she was determined to make him try at least a small spell. After a while, Loki had to convince her to back off a bit. Though it didn't matter now. Not wanting to risk the boys taking off alone, the duo met up with Pietro and Cooper and headed off. The walk down to the stream was much longer than Loki expected it to be. And the stream was actually more like a river. "Come on, the rocks are down here."

Clint moved to an embankment and jumped closer to the water. Pietro and Cooper easily followed. With a sigh, Loki did as well. Down near the river bed, Loki noticed that many of the rocks were thinner, shinier and sometimes crystal like. He leaned down, looking at some in surprise. Clint laughed near him. The trickster looked up.

"The rocks down here are better than any you'll find by the house. They've been stripped down a bit and cleaned by the water," Clint informed. Loki snorted but said nothing. Slowly, he picked through the rocks, playing with a few before returning them. He used his magic to find some of the ones more willing to leave the bed and travel to somewhere else. Clint seemed to instead find some of the thinner and smoother rocks and tossed them into the water with various amounts of skipping. Loki also noted that unconsciously, Clint kept picking rocks that actually wanted to return to the river. Thankfully, that wasn't a use of magic that would make him a full user. Just something that seemed similar to intuition.

"Dad! Dad! Look at this one!" Cooper called, rushing toward Loki and Clint. Both men turned to see it. Clint smiled, about to praise the find when Loki cried out.

"DON'T MOVE!" he cried. Cooper froze and smartly didn't release the rock. Clint glanced back at Loki confused. "It's another stone."

"Fuck," Clint muttered, slowly moving toward his son. Cooper looked terrified. "It's okay Coop. I'm just gonna come over there and grab that. Don't move."

Cooper nodded, keeping his arm as still as possible as the rest of him began to shake in fear. He didn't know what was making his father and Loki nervous but their tension was frightening him. Loki began moving closer as well. When Clint took the stone, he'd need to protect the child. Or, vice versa. The two were within inches of Cooper when the boy couldn't keep his hand still any longer. Cooper shook and there was a blinding flash of light. Shocked, Cooper dropped the stone.

"Where's Clint and Loki?" Pietro asked, moving toward Cooper after the flash faded. The teen started crying. He had killed his dad!

* * *

Loki stumbled, unable to help himself, when the power cut through him. Beside him, the trickster noted Clint had gone to his knees. The archer looked highly dazed and unable to figure out what had just happened. A side effect of this particular stone's use. Having done it before, Loki was able to shake it off. Though he wasn't all that much better than Clint was. Without connection to this stone, he had no idea where they were. This destination had been the stone's choice and left no clues behind.

"What the hell was that?" Clint groaned, moving to get up but he just fell back down, dazed. Loki shifted closer.

"That, would be another Space Stone," Loki replied, thinking of the Tesseract in his control. Clint shuddered. Carefully, Loki looked Clint over. The archer's body was stressed and strained.

"Fuck these stones," he grumbled. Loki smirked. Poor Clint did seem to be getting the shit end of the stick with these items. Clint again tried to get to his feet, but this time, Loki laid a hand on the archer's shoulder. The trickster couldn't help but be worried about the archer. Coming in contact with as many stones as Clint had, the effects were beginning to wearing on him and his body. Loki wasn't sure Clint would be able to tolerate many more attempts with stones in such rapid succession. Including a second trip through space with the Tesseract, so the trickster was pleased that Clint didn't know he carried it. "Stay. It will take you a while to get over the transportation."

"Yeah... Yeah, okay," Clint agreed, easily getting back on the ground. Slowly, the archer started to look around. "Uh... Where's everyone else?"

"Your son accidentally activated the stone, but unlike when I activated the Tesseract, your son aimed the spell at us with no clear destination in mind," Loki informed. Clint frowned. "Your son should be home, safe and sound with Pietro."

"Oh... That's good I guess," Clint grunted, still too dazed to really understand the importance of the situation. Sighing, Clint focused more on their surroundings. "Do you ah... Know where we are?"

"Sadly, I do not," Loki sighed. Clint groaned, leaning back to lay down on the ground. Loki looked down at him. Was the archer worse than he feared? Was Clint getting 'beaten' down by the stones now? Or was it something else? For now though, Loki needed to keep Clint calm and not warn him of the danger his body would be in. "If Asgard was still around, Heimdall may have been able to find us and bring us back."

"And instead he's on Earth... Farsight doesn't allow him to see this far?" Clint wondered. Loki sighed.

"The Bifrost had a view of the planets and stars around us. He could use that open space to see all. I cannot think of a place on Midgard that would allow him the same freedom," Loki explained. Clint sighed, shifting back to sitting. Slowly, he got to his feet. At least this time he didn't fall over. But he was swaying. Loki gripped his elbow, holding the archer. Clint just nodded his thanks and Loki couldn't help but feel relieved. All that tension they had been suffering through before was gone.

"Well, I haven't paid attention to any astronomy so, I can't help here," Clint grunted, looking out at the space above them. Loki sighed.

"That is fine. Out here, you may not be able to recognize the places you know," Loki responded. Clint muttered something under his breath. Loki smirked. "I understand this is a difficult situation but, I am certain things will work out."

"Sure," Clint hissed, getting to his feet. He turned in a circle, looking everything over. "So... No idea about civilization?"

"I can sense a settlement to our south," Loki answered, pointing toward what Clint could only hope was what the trickster thought it was. Nodding, Clint started walking that way. Loki slowly followed behind. Neither of them spoke as they traveled. The further they went from the 'drop' sight, the more Loki noted the lack of life. Somehow that twinged an idea of where the duo had landed. They made it halfway to the settlement when suddenly, both of them froze, their muscles stiff.

"Wh?" Clint tried to force out. Loki didn't respond. He knew where they were now and it wasn't going to be good for them. They were on Agryke... A very well known planet that had many of it's people taken and sold as slaves by various species. And now, they were to be next.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" an unknown voice laughed, coming up from behind. Clint's brow furrowed in confusion. Loki's Allspeak made it that he'd be able to understand what these people would say. But Clint would be totally lost. The alien came into view slowly. Loki fought to keep his composure. This was worse than he thought. The alien that had captured them was a Fanne. A highly dangerous species that loved to capture slaves and use them for training their young. "Some Terrans!"

"Good meat," another Fanne replied, sneaking around Clint's side. Loki grimaced. Clint had closed his eyes now. Focusing a bit more, Loki realized Clint was trying to relax himself as if that would help him escape. Loosening his muscles from the trap they walked right into. The second Fanne grabbed Clint's chin. Clint didn't even open his eyes. "Pretty meat too."

"Don't need pretty, need fast," the first one called. Chuckling, the Fanne walked closer and looked Loki over. "They'll do."

* * *

When Clint woke up, he had no idea what was going on. His muscles were sore, his head was killing him, and everything had a strange hue to it. Focusing a bit more on what was going on, Clint could tell that he was locked in a dungeon of some kind. He could feel that someone was nearby. All his spying instinct told him not to move. Whoever was with him gave a light scoff.

"I can tell you are awake," Loki's voice announced. Clint slowly opened his eyes and twisted to see Loki was sitting near him, a metal collar attached to a chain, attached to something on Clint and then to the wall. Groaning, the archer shifted to get up and felt the movement of his own metal collar that was also chained up to the wall.

"What happened?" Clint grunted, his voice hoarse as if he hadn't spoken for weeks. Loki sighed. He needed to help Clint out. If they were going to be out here for as long as Loki figured they would, Clint would need to understand the species they would come across. Loki could only hope that Clint wouldn't hate him for it and Clint's magic wouldn't drain the spell too much.

"Before I answer, I must lay a certain spell onto you," Loki informed. Clint frowned but didn't argue. Instead he watched and was surprised when Loki shifted over to lay his hand on Clint's forehead and sneaking his other under the collar and to Clint's throat. Loki muttered in some language and Clint felt a heating of his throat and the pain in his head increased.

"Ow," Clint moaned when Loki backed off. Loki gave him a weak smile.

"I apologize. I should have done that before we got attacked," Loki replied. Clint reached for his throat in confusion.

"What did you do?" Clint asked.

"Mother once taught me the ability to copy one of my traits and give that copy to another. I used that spell to give you Allspeak," Loki explained. Clint frowned. "You will need it to understand what these Fanne demand."

"Fanne?" Clint repeated.

"The name of the species that have caught us," Loki responded. Clint rolled his eyes. Of course. Why not make things even more difficult?

"Any idea what they want?"

"Slaves to hunt," Loki bluntly stated. Clint paled. That didn't sound good for them.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. They are going to use us as a training method for their young," Loki added. Clint winced. Yup, not good.

"And, if we survive?"

"We won't."

"Wow... Pessimistic much?" Clint scoffed, furrowing his brows in disappointment. Loki shook his head. Clint hadn't understood what he meant.

"They send over fifty young after a small number of slaves. Even if you escape one, another will be on your trail. No one can stay on alert long enough to last. And the elders will not collect the young until every slave is dead."

"Nice," Clint sarcastically muttered. Loki nodded, turning away from Clint. This was not going well for them. "What... What if we kill all fifty young?"

"Hmm?" Loki questioned, looking back at the archer.

"What if the slaves, or us, kill all those sent after us?" Clint wondered, focusing on the trickster. Loki scoffed.

"Likely the elders will be sent after us after even one of their young were to be killed," Loki mumbled. Clint groaned, hitting his head lightly against the wall behind them. Loki hummed at Clint's actions. He felt much the same way, but didn't wish to injure himself.

"Can you use magic to get us out of here?" Clint asked. Loki sighed.

"There is a dampener here. I had enough of a difficult time doing the spell to give you the Allspeak. I may not get enough back before we are taken to the hunt," Loki called. Clint groaned again, resuming his head bashing. "You will soon damage your mind."

"Do you know how many concussions I've had in my life? Nearly a hundred," Clint snipped, not wanting to discuss this anymore. Loki snorted.

"Not a fact to be proud of."

"Hey, didn't say I was proud of it. Just said I had a lot."

"Will you two just shut it!?" a voice cried from a distance away. Clint and Loki traded looks. There was someone else down here.

"Who's asking, maybe we'll shut up then," Clint retorted making Loki roll his eyes. So like Clint. There was a snort.

"Fricking dick. Name's Rocket," the voice informed. Loki smirked.

"Rocket, cool. My name's Clint," the archer easily replied not even caring that he had no idea what he was speaking to. He glanced at Loki but the trickster said nothing. Sighing, Clint continued on. "My speaking partner is Loki."

"Loki? What the frag kinda name is that?" Rocket chuckled. Loki rolled his eyes again.

"What mother would name their child Rocket?" the trickster snapped. There was a laugh.

"My ma didn't name me. I named me," Rocket called, almost proud of himself. Loki snorted.

"And you chose that as your name?"

"Shut it!" Rocket growled. Loki sighed, closing his eyes. It was like speaking with a young Thor. Something that he never enjoyed.

"Play nice you two," Clint chided. "We're all stuck in this together."

"You're assuming I'm gonna be staying," Rocket replied. Clint turned to Loki with a harsh glare. If this guy was gonna get rescued, maybe he could help them. Loki huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he knew what Clint wanted. For once, Loki understood what it was like to be in this position. Normally, he was the one telling Thor to be silent.

"Do you know when you might be leaving?" Clint wondered. Rocket scoffed.

"Soon as my friends get here."

"Helpful," Loki whispered. Clint elbowed him.

"Would you be willing to take us with you?" Clint inquired. There was silence.

"What kinda units you got?" Clint frowned. Of fucking course. Loki chuckled lightly.

"Uh... When you bring us to where we need to be, I can get you whatever you want," Clint suggested. There was a loud laugh.

"You think I'm gonna trust that? Units upfront or nothing."

"Well... Fine..." Clint mumbled, leaning back against the wall again. Loki looked to him and smirked. His turn. He wasn't called Lie-smith and Silvertongue for a reason.

"I bet he don't even have friends coming. Just tells people this to give them false hope," Loki loudly proclaimed. Clint softly laughed at that even as Rocket let out a loud indignant sound. Loki sounded a bit like Natasha did in situations like these. Clint should probably take their example some day.

"What the flarg you talking about? I got friends!" Rocket cried, obviously offended.

"I doubt they'd be able to rescue us. They'll likely be caught as well," Loki chuckled, speaking mainly to Clint as if Rocket wasn't talking. Clint rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. It was nice to actually see the Lie-smith in action. He had only heard of Loki's tongue twisting. Natasha was pretty good at it as well, but Loki was known for it. Clint was watching the 'master.'

"Oh, I'll show you! My friends'll get here and I'll get you out!" Rocket snapped. Loki nodded. That's what he wanted to hear. Clint covered his huff of laughter with a cough.

"We'll see," the trickster scoffed.

* * *

It took another four hours or so of trading quips with Rocket before there were loud sounds of a fight off in the distance. Clint, who had fallen asleep an hour and a half before hand, was jostled awake by Loki. The duo stood and moved as far as they could to look out of their area. Apparently Rocket did the same as Clint noted a raccoon (the only other creature moving) coming out from a cell a few down. Clint nearly scoffed at the sight but then figured, he'd seen odder things than a talking raccoon. No need to piss the guy off when he was finally 'willing' to help them escape. The sound of a fight drew closer.

"That, is my friends!" Rocket declared turning to look at Clint and Loki. He blanched at the sight of them. "More Terrans... Great."

Seconds later, the door blasted open and a guy wearing a dark maroon jacket, what seemed to be a pair of jeans, boots and a helmet that covered over the guy's face came through. In his hands was a strange type of duel blaster that was now aimed down at the ground. As the smoke started to clear, the man just kinda stood there in a 'heroic' pose. Clint sighed. He had always wanted to do that at least once, but seeing it now... It was annoying. No wonder why Natasha and Coulson never allowed him to do it. And he swore he'd never allow Tony to do it.

"Quill! Get over here!" Rocket snapped. 'Quill' groaned, bringing his hand up to tap the side of his helmet. It vanished like a molecular item, sinking into something around Quill's neck. Clint raised an eyebrow at that and the duel blaster items on the guy, but didn't want to comment just yet. Heaven forbid this guy thought they were enemies as well.

"Hold your horses," Quill snipped, moving deeper into the cells. He glanced around, catching sight of Clint and Loki looking at him. Quill paused. Clint schooled his expression, unsure how to act around this new comer and possible savior. "Hiya."

"Hi," Clint muttered, waving a hand at the man.

"Quill!" Rocket growled again. Quill rolled his eyes, turning and pointing his blaster at Rocket. Clint raised an eyebrow again. The blast ended up being a white fog that hit something behind Rocket. Clint could only assume it was the chain. Rocket lurched forward, the tip of his chain covered in ice. "Come on, let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We can't just leave them!" Quill cried, pointing to Loki and Clint. Rocket snarled at them.

"They got no units and they pissed me off. Let's go," Rocket insisted. Quill rolled his eyes and headed over to the duo. Like with Rocket, he shot his blaster at the chains holding them to the wall and each other. Once free, Clint focused on Quill.

"Thanks," Clint stated. Quill nodded before turning back. The sounds of battle had gotten closer. Growling, Quill pressed against his ear.

"Yeah, Gamora. I got him," Quill hissed. He started moving away. Unsure what else to do, Clint started following. With a soft groan and roll of his eyes, Loki trailed after as well. Rocket waited at the door and once Quill passed he held up a paw to stop them. Clint stilled, staring down at the raccoon even as he felt Loki stiffen behind him.

"We got ya free, now bug off," Rocket snipped. Clint sighed.

"Okay. But, the exit _is_ this way," Clint stressed. Rocket turned quickly to look back before focusing again on Clint with narrowed eyes. The archer could tell the raccoon was pissed off at him. Clint glanced up at Quill who had his face covered with one of his hands.

"Fine," the raccoon snarled as Quill rubbing his hand down his face. Rocket spun and started walking away. Quill snorted at the raccoon before focusing on the archer and trickster.

"Sorry bout him. He ain't all that friendly," Quill excused even as Loki came up to stand beside Clint. Clint shrugged. He was used to unfriendly people. As they walked away from the dungeon, Clint and Loki saw that the hall that was covered with dead or unconscious Fanne. A good three turns away from where they had been trapped, Clint's eyes spotted something in a different hall that they were passing. He quickly headed over to it. His motions drew the attention of the other three. Loki tilted his head a bit, wondering what Clint saw but Quill and Rocket had a different reaction.

"What the flarg are ya doing?" Rocket cried when Clint deviated. Clint ignored him and grabbed what must have been the key off one of the dead Fanne. With it in hand, the archer quickly made do with the collar on his neck. Then tossed the key to Loki. The trickster smiled and started undoing his own collar. Loki was honestly surprised that it was much harder than Clint had made it seem.

"How did you see that?" Quill questioned, glancing between where Clint had been and where the guard was laying.

"Good eyesight," Clint retorted as Loki finished unhooking his collar with a snort. The trickster let out a sigh of relief. Apparently the collar was what was dampening his power.

"Alright, toss it here," Rocket demanded. Loki smirked, holding the key tighter in his hand. Clint rolled his eyes. They didn't have time for this.

"Loki," he chided. Loki huffed, making sure to not look at Clint, before tossing the key over. Rocket unlatched his just as fast as Clint. Loki frowned. Why was it so easy for them?

"K, let's go!" Rocket insisted. Quill rolled his eyes but they all headed off. They made it a few paths down before a larger man with no shirt and tattoos all over his body appeared. Loki tensed but when Quill and Rocket didn't do anything, he figured the man must be a friend. Clint also didn't react to the added person.

"Quill, the cowards are running away," the man informed.

"Got it. Let's head to the ship," Quill ordered. Clint and Loki said nothing as they continued following the group. As they kept going, a woman with green skin and red hair arrived. Her large sword a very threatening presence. Clint noted that she hardly looked at them before falling into step next to Quill. Loki tensed for half a second, but said nothing.

"Who are they?" the woman asked. Quill glanced back at Clint and Loki.

"People we're helping," Quill determined. Clint smirked. Apparently Quill was much more keen on helping people than Rocket ever would be.

"People with no units," Rocket hissed under his breath. Not saying another word, the group headed out of what seemed to be a compound of some sort. Bodies littered the ground in various states. Some looked cut up, some burned, some frozen, and others with a snapped neck. Clint huffed at the display before turning to look back. There was something off. The exit was too easy. With the first guy saying that the Fanne were running away, this had to be a trap of some sort. Someone had to be watching them. He walked backwards for a bit, his brow furrowing even as his eyes tracked over the area. Loki glanced his way with a frown. Having watched the archer, Loki knew that Clint was expecting more danger.

"Clint?" he asked when Clint stopped walking. The trickster stopped as well. This time the woman and Quill looked back, slowing their pace until they stopped. Rocket and the tattooed man continued till they reached the ship and turned to watch. "What do you see?"

Clint didn't respond, he just pounded his foot onto the ground, a gun that had been sitting on the ground beside him easily jumping up into his hand and before he really had a good look at how it worked, he fired. A Fanne fell out of one of the doorways, dead. Another shot and one fell off the roof. And a third into one of the bodies that had one that started to lift up before Clint even glanced at it. There was a pause as Clint looked around. Nothing else. Apparently only three wanted to stay behind. Sighing, he turned to see everyone but Loki staring at him. Loki had shifted to look at the others.

"What?" the archer wondered. He was actually honestly confused and Loki couldn't help but smirk. The trickster tended to forget that on Earth, the Avengers seemed to outshine Clint's skills. And of course, these people would have had no idea of the archer's skill.

"Can we keep 'em?" Rocket demanded. Quill shook his head to get out of his surprised stupor and glanced over to Rocket.

"Thought you didn't wanna help them," Quill accused. Rocket huffed, crossing his paws over his chest.

"He's a better shot than you," Rocket snipped. Quill's eyes narrowed.

"Trash panda," he muttered under his breath. Clint tried to hold back his laugh at that but something must have come out cause Quill was looking at him again. But either way, Rocket hadn't heard Quill so it was good. Loki shifted, getting ready to defend Clint if needed. "Where did you say you came from?"

"We didn't," Loki mentioned.

"Earth," Clint stated, ignoring Loki. Quill's eyes widened.

"You're... You're from EARTH!" he happily shouted. Clint frowned, not getting what was happening now. "I'm from Earth!"

"So you know the way back?" Clint wondered unable to hide the amount of excitement and hope. Quill smiled before stilling and then frowning. Clint sighed. He knew that reaction. "You're not gonna bring us back there."

"Uh... I can bring you somewhere that can get you closer there," Quill suggested, feeling guilty. Clint glanced to Loki, wondering if that would help. Loki simply frowned at Quill. There was no guarantee that being closer to Earth meant they'd find safe travel to finish their journey. Being with these people may be their only option.

"Quill, let's just go back. You can't avoid it forever," the woman soothed. Quill looked to her with a slightly betrayed look. There was a long pause as everyone just watched Quill. He watched them. It took a moment before Clint noticed Quill seemed to be caving. Then the other earthling sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Get in," Quill demanded, spinning on his heel to go into the ship. Clint smiled and nodded his thanks to the woman.

"Clint," he introduced, holding out a hand to her. The woman stared at it before looking back up at Clint. Clint simply shrugged and dropped the hand. Stubborn, he was fine with that. Loki was the same way. He just ignored the woman's reaction. Loki huffed, amused before he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Clint to dare introduce him again.

"I am Drax the Destroyer!" the tattooed guy called from the ship, a large smile on his face. Loki raised an eyebrow. He had heard that name before. But it didn't fully trigger the memory as too why he knew it. There was something. Right on the tip of his tongue. "That is Gamora!"

"Daughter of Thanos?" Loki hissed, his eyes narrowing slightly as he focused on her. Clint shifted between Loki and Gamora. The archer really didn't want a fight here and with Loki's tone... It was more than likely was going to go that way. Gamora's gaze darkened on Loki. Typically when someone sounded like that around her, it meant a fight was going to be brewing.

"Don't. Don't cause an issue now," Clint snarled, focusing more on Loki than Gamora. Loki's eyes narrowed at him. "If she's here, he ain't. So drop it."

"When you die, I'll remind you of this conversation," Loki snarled, moving toward the ship as if Gamora wasn't going to be joining him inside. Clint rolled his eyes. Drama queen.

"So fucking dramatic," the archer countered, making sure his voice was loud enough for Loki to hear. In his mind, Clint got an image of Loki flipping him off. He huffed. While not liking magic done to his head, for some reason Loki doing it lately just then didn't phase him.

"I am confused. Are you an enemy of Thanos?" Drax questioned when Loki got close enough. Loki gave him a dry look.

"Drax doesn't understand sarcasm or euphemism or metaphors," Rocket chuckled. Loki hissed and headed into the ship without another word. Clint sighed deeply. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

* * *

**And another week down. Pretty long chapter just because when I did a bit of work on it, I didn't feel like changing the chapter splits and stuff. So, some may be as longer or possibly longer. But most will likely be around the 3000 word mark.**

**This week has been strange. Started our annual Stitch Trouble (copy of Elf on a Shelf without the Elf). Can't really think of what to do as of right now... Hope I'll figure it out soon. Anyways, Darius has been great. Currently upstairs drumming away and making a ton of noise. He seriously has no idea how to keep his voice down. Which has been bad for me this week as I've had migraines each day. But, best way to get him slightly calm was to give him a tablet or phone. Wish it could have been something else but no. That's the only way to keep him quiet for a good amount of time. Hubby has been spending his nights in Darius's bed so that I don't get either of them sick. Darius is loving it. He says he's having fun at school and at daycare. And poor hubby is 'insulted' that whenever he goes to pick up Darius, Darius runs to hug me, blowing by him. It makes me feel good considering when Clint went to this same daycare he did the same to me. Baby Jason is doing well. Apparently giving his parents trouble sleeping but otherwise, good. Pretty much set on a schedule of when to do certain things. And getting shaken out of that routine can throw him and his parents into a bit of a tizzy. But, that's general with babies.**

**Well, that about sums everything up! Can't wait to see you all next week. **


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 - Flying With the Guardians

Loki thankfully stayed out of everyone's way, especially Gamora. Quill, who introduced himself as Peter Quill but refused to be called Peter, tried his best to ignore Clint. But Clint was fine with that. He was having a grand old time listening to embarrassing stories from Rocket and 'baby' Groot. Gamora tended to watch Loki closely, not trusting him now that he announced who she used to be. And much to Loki's chagrin, Clint didn't seem to stay around him all that much either. The archer just socialized with everyone.

"Seriously? A dance off?" Clint laughed. Quill spun around, insulted.

"Hey! It worked!" he cried. Clint held up his hands in defense.

"No, no. It's fine. Always wanted to beat someone that way, just didn't think it'd ever actually happen outside of TV or a movie," Clint chuckled. Quill frowned at the archer. Hadn't expected that to be the reaction. No one had ever liked what Quill had done. They had always thought it was stupid. Even if it worked. "God, I wish there was recording of that. I'd love to see it."

"So, what's been your best plan? Bet you have tons," Quill sarcastically asked. Clint shrugged.

"Don't really think about it much. Just, plan as I go," Clint admitted.

"Sounds familiar," Gamora mocked.

"Must be a Terran thing," Rocket added. Quill looked at the raccoon.

"Oh, ha ha," Quill snapped. Rocket then frowned and looked at Clint.

"Hey, you're a Terran. What's a 'vermin?' Douche bag refuses to tell me and I've been called it a lot, so I figure it ain't good," Rocket wondered. Clint looked up at Quill in time to see the guy doing a cut it out symbol. Sadly, Loki had started entering the room at that moment. He smiled, stopping to lean up against one of the 'doorways.'

"You are a little creature that is overall just a pain in the ass," Loki snipped. Rocket turned to Loki then spun slowly to look at Quill. There was a moment of pure silence. Then Rocket launched himself at Quill. There was a scuffle that no one wanted to get involved in that ended when both Rocket and Quill aimed guns at each other. "Well, that was fun."

"Loki, seriously," Clint whined. Loki shrugged.

"I am Groot," Groot called. Loki rolled his eyes.

"It's in my nature," the trickster pointed out.

"You are not a plant," Drax mentioned. There was a moment of absolute silence before Quill, Rocket and Clint cracked up. Even Gamora had a small smile on her face. Loki shook his head. A lot of his comments had gone over the man's head. But before anyone could actually explain to Drax what the trickster meant, an alarm went off. Quill and Rocket turned to the cockpit with most of the others following, heading to their seats. Loki and Clint stood behind Drax's seat and Gamora's. Clint of course being behind the latter.

"Looks like we got a distress signal," Quill announced, glancing back quickly at the others. Clint could see the question in his eyes. Should they check it out and help whoever made the call?

"We already got people, we don't need more," Rocket complained as if the ship was packed to the brim.

"And if they have units?" Clint suggested, trying to keep his voice tone neutral. As an Avenger, Clint felt he needed to help whoever it was. Didn't matter. Loki turned and glanced at the archer. Of course Clint would want to help. He couldn't stop from rolling his eyes even as Rocket paused as if thinking about it.

"Yeah, we can go check it out."

* * *

When they arrived at the place that the distress signal had come from, all they saw was empty space. Nothing. No debris. No ship. Just empty space. But, something had to be sending out a signal. Hell, there wasn't even a planet nearby.

"Uh... You sure something's here Quill?" Rocket wondered, checking over the data himself as if it would change.

"Yeah, the signal is still beaming from here," Quill retorted. Clint leaned forward, over Gamora's seat. She twisted a bit, looking to the archer. As she opened her mouth to argue against his closeness, Loki shook his head. Frowning, Gamora let it go. Meanwhile, Clint scanned ahead. In the distance he could just make out a small speck of something. The signal must be coming from that. Whatever that thing was.

"There," he called, pointing to a place just slightly in the distance. Quill frowned at him but shifted the Milano toward where Clint pointed. And as they drew closer, everyone else began to notice it as well. It was a small piece of a ship, just large enough to be able to send out a signal and for travelers to think something was actually there.

"Anyone else think this might be a trap?" Rocket asked. A second later, a rather large ship appeared from out of nowhere. Clint winced. How had he not seen that?

"Fuck me," Quill mumbled. Loki shifted forward quickly, pushing Clint and Drax aside to do so. He muttered a quick spell under his breath as he placed his hand on the panel before Quill. "HEY! What the hell!"

"Loki?" Clint questioned when the trickster pulled back.

"We're currently not on their radar and an image of the ship has left the area, quickly," Loki reported. A moment later, the large ship flew over them. They didn't move for maybe another two minutes before finally Rocket turned back to the new comers.

"I really don't wanna return you two now," Rocket called. Clint huffed.

"Very easy to please you, isn't it," Loki joked. Quill and Clint laughed.

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Hey! You shut it," Rocket snapped, pointing to Groot.

"I am Groot!" Groot responded.

"You said it," Quill chuckled.

* * *

Sadly, that large ship wasn't done with them. After they realized what happened, they returned to the first place and traced the Milano's trail, which no one had thought to disguise. Apparently it was very easy to follow cause the larger ship caught up to them only six hours later. Loki had gone to rest, catching up on the magic he had used (or so he claimed). Clint happened to be sitting near the rear window, just staring out into space. Gamora and Drax both were in the 'dinning' area, eating. Rocket and Quill were fighting over something stupid in the front. Groot... Well, no one really knew where Groot ended up. But in everyone's distractions, it was of course Clint who noticed the thing first and much to his chagrin, it was closer than he ever expected it to have been. Gamora had explained the idea of cloaking to Clint but still, the archer hated that they could have hidden from him.

"Guys! It's back!" Clint cried. Quill jumped, grabbing the controls to bring up a screen showing their back end.

"Crap! It's almost on us!" Quill snapped.

"Someone go wake that wizard," Rocket called. Clint frowned even as Loki appeared.

"I hear they are back," Loki mumbled, almost sounding sleep ruffled. Clint nodded, pointing out the back to show how close they were. Loki sighed, judging how everything looked. After a moment, he shook his head. "I cannot cloak us this time. They are going to catch us."

"Fat lot a good you are!" Rocket hissed. Clint rolled his eyes. And apparently it was also very easy to lose Rocket's good opinion.

"Can you tell if they're hostile and how many?" Clint asked in return. Rocket turned to look at the duo in surprise. Loki nodded, closing his eyes and murmuring a soft spell. Seconds later, Loki reopened his eyes.

"Hostile and far more than we can handle," Loki whispered but it was still loud enough for everyone to hear. Clint sighed. Well, that was that. Loki grimaced before focusing again, softly saying something. A moment later, a bow and quiver appeared in his hands. Clint's face let up.

"What in the worlds is that?" Gamora wondered, coming over to look at them.

"Bow and arrows," Clint said, taking the quiver from Loki with a large smile. Loki rolled his eyes. Then he reached for the bow, reverently touching it before gently taking it from Loki's hands.

"The arrows are infinite and will change into whatever you desire," Loki explained. Clint chuckled, messing with the bow's string a bit to make sure it was at the proper draw weight for him. When Clint easily drew the string back, Loki couldn't help but give the archer a small knowing smile. The trickster had been right. "Now, we may have a chance."

"Seriously? A bow? How the hell is that gonna make a difference?" Quill cried. Loki said nothing. It was best to just show how much of a difference this would make. Knowing they were trapped, Quill and Rocket began shutting down systems. No point wasting energy on trying to escape when you knew you'd fail. With no fight, the larger ship quickly caught up to them and drew the Milano into itself. Clint shifted the grip on his bow. Watching the ship vanish, Clint couldn't help but think of _Star Wars_. It was exactly like that. There was a jerking sensation a moment later. They all tensed and it didn't take long before they all felt the ship settle down. "Okay people, get ready."

The group headed toward the loading bay, waiting for the invaders to open it up, rather than them doing it themselves. There was a long tense minute until the doors were suddenly blasted open. Clint waited for the first shot from outside before rapid firing his new bow into the smoke beyond. It took maybe two minutes before the archer seemingly cleared the area of all the enemies. The guardians turned to look at Clint, who still hadn't lowered his bow.

"What the flarg?" Rocket whispered. Loki smirked, glancing back at the raccoon.

"That's why we now have a chance to make it out of here alive," Loki told them. Something out there moved the bodies either off to the side or tossed them into space. Not that they could tell what it was. Either way, none of the guardians attempted to shoot at that, so neither did Clint

"Eyes open, second wave," Clint called, ignoring the others around him as he focused in the distance.

"Gonna save any for us this time?" Rocket muttered. Clint smirked.

"Fire before me then," the archer dared. Rocket stiffened in surprise before cackling. Again, Clint waited till they fired the first shot. Once it hit, he rapid fired went again, intent on showing these aliens that they weren't to be messed with. This time, the group was larger and so there were spurts from Rocket's rather large gun that had to mix into the battle. Not that Clint needed the help, but it did save him from watching certain areas. Still, Quill, Gamora and Drax did nothing. Loki's smirk grew. "Loki, gotta say, this shit is awesome."

"There is a few other traits to that thing that I can show you later," Loki softly informed the archer. Clint smirked, excited for what the trickster was going to show him. Maybe Loki was right. Magic wasn't as bad as he had perceived. But, he still wasn't gonna do it himself. After the wave finished, there was a longer separation between the next wave.

"Think they're getting a bit nervous," Quill mentioned. The third wave was much larger than the other two and Clint wasn't too proud to admit that he needed help. Thankfully, Rocket, Quill and surprisingly, Gamora were ready to help.

"Getting slower there?" Rocket joked. Clint snorted, trying to hide the wince. His muscles where getting a little sore. He'd never shot this many arrows in such a short amount of time. Even the Battle of Manhattan hadn't been this bad. Loki frowned but didn't comment on it. Clint had many untouched issues. One of them being about his worth.

"He seems to be going at a normal speed," Drax pointed out. Quill shook his head even as Clint let out a soft chuckle.

"Boys, another wave," Gamora snapped. Clint snorted. This time, there was something that got tossed in first. Loki shifted before everyone, automatically throwing up a shield that covered the bright flash of the bomb that exploded in front of them. He backed away, allowing Clint to quickly fire away. Clint kept up a bit better this time as he started using trick arrows like explosive, freezing, and flash. The sixth wave was so melded into the fifth that no one really noticed that they shifted. But they did notice it was a far larger group than normal.

"Anyone getting tired?" Clint shouted out to the ship once the waves vanished. Rocket and Quill chuckled as Loki placed a hand on Clint's back to heal the strain on his muscles. The archer only gave Loki a small nod of thanks as Gamora turned to give him a darkened look. Apparently all Terrans were reckless idiots.

"Surrender!" A loud voice demanded. "We out number you!"

"You sure? Cause, looks like we killed a lot of you," Clint loudly called, egging the aliens on. This time Loki sighed. While it was going to help in the long run, Loki would never have allowed Clint to do this without knowing they needed it. By pissing the aliens off, they would send more to attack in the upcoming waves and quickly diminishing their numbers as they did so.

"Stop," Gamora hissed at him. Clint smirked and shrugged. This was just the way he was, no stopping that. No matter who was telling him that. Steve had learned that long ago. All the Captain could ever do was damage control after Tony and Clint got involved.

"You will be defeated!" the voice warned. Clint scoffed.

"Well, come defeat us!" Quill yelled before Clint could. Gamora hung her head.

"Seriously?" she asked even as another wave came out. Clint laughed and started firing away again. Rocket cackled and fired himself. Quill chuckled, trying to hold a few back. Gamora rolled her eyes and aimed as best as she could.

"I am missing the battle," Drax muttered, shifting as if to go out there. Loki casted a spell on him to keep him grounded.

"Lets save you for when they think we are down," Loki suggested without thinking about making it easier to understand. Drax frowned and went to make a comment so Loki huffed. "Wait."

"I do not enjoy this waiting," Drax petulantly stated.

"Norns, its like fighting with Thor," Loki mumbled, fighting the desire to run a hand over his face. Clint snorted, not even letting it break him from his rhythm. Then, suddenly, one of the aliens got a good shot into the ship. Clint ducked quickly, the shot having been aimed at him. The archer couldn't stop his small whoop of joy.

"Ha, they found me," the archer chuckled in a far to pleased tone. Everyone gave him a quick look of surprise except for Loki. The Lie-smith huffed, trying not to verbally attack Clint as if the archer was Thor.

"That shouldn't be something to be proud of," Gamora mentioned. Clint snorted, shifting back to shoot again.

"The team I work with on Earth, no one seems to think of me as a threat. This... No offense, this is nice," Clint informed.

"If you aren't considered a threat, I want to meet your friends," Rocket announced. Clint nodded. Everyone always wanted to meet the others over him. Loki couldn't help but notice the twinge of hurt that flashed over the archer's face but there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment. The waves kept coming and so Clint shifted, moving the group forward without them even really noticing.

"God, are they anywhere near running out of guys?" Quill growled. Loki shook his head and the man groaned. Clint huffed. Now he could see why Steve always gave Tony and him issues when they made fun of him for slowing down and needing to take small breaks in long fights. It was tougher than Clint expected it to be in the enemies sight, especially considering he'd been shooting non-stop.

"Can we go hand to hand now?" Gamora snarled, harshly looking at Clint and then Loki.

"Feel free, I'll back you up from here," Clint told her with a shrug. It wasn't really his say. Gamora smirked, pulling out her wicked sword. With a shout, she and Drax ran out into the fray. Clint easily shot around the duo without moving from his spot. Quill and Rocket glanced at him quickly before activating jet packs/boots to fly over the whole battle area. They couldn't trust that they'd safely be able to shoot past their fighting friends. In the air, they could focus on enemies further in the back. Loki shifted to stand by Clint. The archer didn't even look at him. "Go. I'll hold it off here."

"If you are certain," Loki mumbled before rushing out himself into the fray. The group went through nearly three hundred or more enemies before the inevitable happened. They got a shot in and hit Clint right in his side. Clint's shout of pain had almost everyone turn but determined, Clint kept firing. Loki frowned, looking back at Clint. He could see the pain in the archer's eyes but Clint was determined to not let this hinder him. With a quick glance to the trickster, Clint shook his head. He was fine. Or as fine as he could be.

The next person to get hit was Drax. And like Clint, he got back up and kept fighting. When Rocket's jet pack got hit, Loki backed up to the ship. Clint glanced at him quickly but didn't comment. Protected in the ship once more, Loki muttered a spell. As it settled over everyone, Clint glanced again at Loki.

"Protection?" Clint wondered, a chill running down his back slightly. Loki smirked and nodded before shifting and heading back out. A few hundred or so more, Clint began to feel his arms seriously hurting and the wound in his side was seriously making itself known. He might not be able to last long and calling Loki back to heal him wasn't going to work as well as before. Looking everyone over, Clint noted that Gamora, Drak and Loki were rapidly tiring as well. Quill and Rocket had gotten a few hits on their jet boosters so it was harder for them to dodge around. Even with Loki's protection spell, this wasn't going to end pretty. Clint growled. They needed something to shift the tides again. But Clint couldn't think of what to do. Then Loki went down and Clint could feel the protection spell vanish. "LOKI!"

Drax was next to fall. Rocket soon after. Quill got a nice hit in the chest that tossed him a good distance away and he didn't get back up. Gamora shifted herself back to Clint's side. Together, they fought as well as they could with the enlarging group. Then, branches burst through the whole area, grabbing enemies and slamming them about while the injured team was brought back to the ship. Clint glanced down to see it was Groot. Clint cheered and it reinvigorated him to keep going. Sadly, it wasn't going to last long. The hit he had gotten earlier was finally getting the better of him and he was having a hard time focusing on the battle. Gamora seemed to be having a similar issue. Finally, Clint got hit for a second time and fell, blackness covering over him before he could check on the remaining two fighters.

* * *

**And here is chapter four. Hope everyone is enjoying this.**

**Darius has been annoying all week. Especially right now. Right now he is in bed, trying to go to sleep but he just won't settle, so I have to hear him crying for something he's already been denied. Otherwise, he has been annoying in the fact of, whenever he is with someone else, they can get him to go on the potty. I have tried seven times today, each time with him asking to go. Not once did he go or even seem to attempt to go. While three other times today he lied to me about having gone. Argh. I really dislike that kids express themselves to a comfortable environment when it is something that bothers me. WHY CAN'T HE DO IT FOR ME? -_- Oh well. Baby Jason, we have just learned, is having too many large bottles of formula and no way to increase food intake. Stressing out his parents as he refuses to be limited. And while all this is happening, Baby Jason's dad and I are stuck at the house while my buddy and Baby Jason's mom are off working holiday hours at a toy store and restaurant. Course, the hours are only going to get longer before the holiday season is over.**

**Okay. That's everything! Have a good week, until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 - Alien Hospitality

"Barton! Barton!" someone cried. Considering only one person currently knew his last name, it had to of been Loki. Slowly, Clint cracked his eyes open. He was hanging by his wrists in the middle of the room. All around him on the walls were the other members of the group. Rocket and Groot hung pretty much together on the archer's right. Drax was behind Clint, or at least the archer hoped. Quill and Gamora also shared a wall on the left. And Loki was right in front of him.

"So, I miss anything?" Clint grunted, glancing to Groot, wondering why the baby hadn't just escaped. There was a snort of surprise from Quill even as Loki rolled his eyes. Clint ignored it and jut focused on Loki. "How many left?"

"Still a bit too many," Loki muttered. Clint groaned, hanging his head down onto his chest. Just his luck. Would be real nice knowing that Steve was out there trying to find him, or even had a chance of finding him. Or heck, even Sam would be nice. Maybe Scott. Just someone! "If we all had time to rest and heal correctly, it would be child's play."

"I am not a child," Drax called. Clint chuckled, he couldn't help it. It was just too much. But when the movement didn't bother Clint's side, the side he knew he had been hit on, the archer paused. What the heck happened? He tried to look down but it just pulled on his very sore arms and shoulders.

"Hey, man. You gonna be okay? They... They didn't seem nice with you when getting you up there," Quill wondered. Clint shrugged. A bit of stupid pride welling up in him that the aliens thought he was a force to be reckoned with.

"Had worse," the archer answered, wondering why he didn't actually seem as injured as he had felt before. A quick glance at the others and the archer noted none of them seemed to have any injuries as well. He knew shots had been fired on them in very visible areas. So where was the damage now?

"That doesn't make us feel better," Gamora pointed out. Suddenly a door that Clint hadn't seen opened by Rocket and Groot. Some type of creature came out and it took a moment to walk around the room, starting before Rocket and Groot and then heading to Drax. Once it came in front of Clint, the archer was able to focus on the alien. It kind of reminded him a bit of the Chitauri, the alien from _Aliens_ and Deadpool all mixed together in a blender. "Trogziks."

"We demand to speak to the captain," the creature stated. Clint sighed. Of course they did.

"And if the captain don't wanna speak to you?" he sassed before anyone could speak. The creature snarled at him.

"Captain must speak," the Trogziks ordered. Clint scoffed, much to the consternation of the guardians hanging around him. Thankfully though, none of them actually verbally protested Clint's actions.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Clint snipped over Quill's slightly distressed noise. The creature got real mad then and suddenly he swiped Clint's chest and some sort of razor or something cut across the archer. Quill, Rocket, and Gamora cried out, trying to get the Trogziks attention. It turned away from Clint, ready to speak with them. All Clint could think was 'ah, hell no.' He was trained for this. He could handle it. "That all ya got?"

"Silence!" the alien snapped, spinning on Clint and attacking again. There now looked to be a giant X on the archer's chest. Clint didn't even wince.

"Make me," Clint dared, his eyes narrowing as if the alien was a mere child. The alien hissed, shifting up toward Clint. It waited for Clint to twitch but all Clint did was glare into the thing. With a snarl, it turned and left.

"What the hell was that!?" Quill cried once the door was closed. Clint shook his head. He really didn't want to get into what he was doing. If they knew, they'd stop him. Looking up he noticed even Loki had a scowl on his face. Clint smiled. He forgot that Loki had never seriously seen him doing his spy work. Hell, the first time Steve had ever seen it he had been really pissed. Likely because they both knew Steve could handle it better than him, but Clint just couldn't help but claim the attention for himself.

"I know what I'm doing," the archer soothed as if that made any of them feel any better.

"Yeah, trying to get killed," Rocket commented. The door opened again and this time two Trogziks came in. One was the first one that Clint could now see had dark blue skin while the new comer had greenish skin. Apparently the skin color wasn't the same on each one.

"Oh! You brought a friend!" Clint called before anyone else could say anything yet again. The green skinned one came over to Clint. Ignoring when Quill and Gamora tried to get the aliens's attention. And thankfully the first alien must have been really peeved by Clint as neither alien even glanced in the guardians direction. "Hi, how ya doin'?"

"You have a loud mouth," the alien pointed out. Clint nodded.

"Been told that a time or two," he retorted. The alien snarled and then snapped a closed fist into Clint's gut. Clint curled in a little at the pain as his body swung from it's chain in the room. He didn't make a sound. "Had that done as well."

"Ever have your tongue cut out?" the blue alien hissed. Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Thought you guys wanted answers? Can't answer without a tongue," Clint stated. The green one looked to the blue one. They hissed something back and forth to each other. Clint smirked and he couldn't help but hear Gamora talking in some random language softly. He figured she must be swearing at him. Quickly, his eyes flicked to Loki. The trickster's face was blanked out but Clint could see in his eyes that he was furious. "Boys, I'm feeling left out of the loop here. Wanna tell me what's going guys?"

"You no talk," the green one growled. Clint shrugged.

"Kinda fun to talk," Clint retorted. The green one snarled and it punched Clint in the gut again. And yet again, Clint made no noise. "Didn't work the first time won't work the second."

This time he was backhanded and apparently these guys got some sort of slime or aloe or something on them cause Clint's eyes quickly begin to burn. Holding back his fear, Clint just laughed at the alien. It grunted and walked off, the blue one following like a lost little angry duckling. As soon as the door was closed, Clint hissed, closing his eyes. Fuck not showing the others pain. This shit was messed up.

"You okay?" Loki wondered, having noted right away that Clint hadn't taken kindly to the back hand. Clint made a very small nod that had no one believing him. Now Loki was even more concerned. "Clint."

"Got something on their skin. My eyes are burning," Clint finally admitted, blinking quickly a few times to see if that cleared them. Loki frowned, knowing how much the archer relied on his sight. He could only hope along with Clint that it wasn't going to damage his eyes and wore off soon.

"Maybe you should just, ya know, not talk next time they come in?" Quill suggested. Clint scoffed and shook his head, scrunching his face when the blinking didn't help. There was no way he could allow the others to come into any danger. By taking all the alien's attention, it kept the others safe.

"I'll be fine," Clint promised before looking up at Loki. He needed someone to say that his eyes looked okay. Clint's eyes looked a little red but Loki couldn't see any permanent damage done. With a softer gaze at the archer, Loki silently informed Clint that his eyes were going to be fine in the long run. Clint couldn't stop a small sigh of relief at that. But, needless to say, they needed to get out of here and soon. "Can you use magic?"

"Yes, to a small degree. But I haven't been unable to undo the restrains on us. Nor do anything to the walls. There is some sort of dampener on it. Why?" Loki asked. Clint sighed, hanging his head again. He hadn't really meant that Loki should use his magic to escape. If Loki could have, Clint was pretty certain that the Lie-smith would have done it already.

"This is gonna get worse. I don't want anyone talking," Clint told the trickster. The room erupted into arguments about that. There was no way they would allow Clint to be the only one to talk. Clint shook his head, looking back up at Loki with a beg. With a frown as this was the first time Clint had actually asked for a spell done since their fight on the farm, Loki waved his hand, casting his silencing spell. The room dropped into silence. Clint sighed even as he saw Quill was still trying to scream even with no sound coming out. "Thanks."

"You are a pig headed idiot," Loki snorted. Clint smirked.

"Yeah. Been told that a time or two."

* * *

The aliens didn't come back for nearly an hour or two. By the time they did, Clint's eyes had already cleared and like Loki thought, there was no lasting damage. The giant X on his chest had also sealed over itself. Loki had sent out a spell, urging it to go a bit faster but Loki knew touching Clint was the only way he could truly heal the archer. When the aliens finally did come it wasn't the ones they had seen before. One was an ashen gray and the other was almost black. Clint chuckled at the sight of them. Even more so when they brought in some type of hovering table covered in various equipment. A quick glance and Clint noted that Rocket was trying his best to scream something. Clint could only bet that Quill was doing the same thing.

"Kinky," Clint noted when the table was brought over and the archer could see some of the items. Neither alien responded. "Gonna introduce yourself before we get started?"

"Chamio," the black one introduced. Clint smiled at Chamio. This one was new to this, likely young and inexperienced in torture techniques. It was especially noticeable when the gray one hissed at him.

"Nice to meet you Chamio, my name's Francis," Clint greeted with a small chuckle. Thankfully no one made a face at the switch of his name. Though Loki did quirk a bit of his eyebrow that the aliens thankfully didn't see.

"We no care," the gray one snapped before grabbing some type of container. Clint raised an eyebrow at it. Chamio winced at the sight but said nothing as the gray one opened it. The alien then grabbed something from the table that looked kinda like a spoon. Before Clint could make a comment on it, the alien dug into the container and launched the contents onto Clint's chest. Everyone could hear the burning of Clint's skin. Clint grunted, holding back his screams of pain. That was new. More painful than the archer expected and he had had acid poured over his skin with some rather large open wounds.

"Come on, you got to have something better than that," Clint growled after a moment. The alien shifted behind Clint and did it again. Clint's back arched at the feeling but again, he did not cry out. After a minute, the alien did it again on Clint's back. This time there was an angered hiss that escaped between Clint's lips. Glancing over, Clint noted that Quill was watching horrified. Gamora kinda reminded the archer of Natasha. Her face was blank outside of the tightness of her lips. Again, the alien tossed some more onto Clint's back and before Clint could recover, the alien did it again. This time, Clint did cry out with a soft pained gasp.

"Better?" the alien wondered, coming back around to Clint's front. Clint forced himself to chuckle and glare at the creature. No way was he going to admit how bad this was. Mostly for the sake of the others imprisoned with him rather than seeming tough in front of the aliens.

"A walk in the park," he hissed. The alien frowned and dumped the contents onto Clint's chest. Again, Clint couldn't stop the now louder cry but the archer worked hard to make sure it wasn't as loud and pained as it felt. Clint grunted when the pain vanished. If they stopped working on him now, the aliens would start working on the others. "Got any more?"

The alien scrapped his nails over Clint's chest, leaving three long marks. Marks that began to fill with some left over bits from that thing that had been on him before. Clint's cry this time was more like a scream. He couldn't help it. If he thought the skin attack was bad, god once it went inside it was like nothing the archer had ever felt. The alien laughed, moving back to watch Clint. After maybe half a minute, Clint's head dropped onto his chest.

The alien chuckled and moved to tilt Clint's head up to check on the consciousness. When the fingers got within range, Clint lunged forward and bit down hard. This time it was the alien who cried out. Chamio ran forward, punching Clint in the gut to try and get the archer to release, but Clint didn't seem fazed. With a growl of pain himself, Chamio lifted some more leftover liquid and slathered it into Clint's open wounds. Apparently this crap didn't effect the aliens.

It did what Chamio wanted. Clint released the other alien with a cry of pain. When Chamio and the other alien backed away, Clint regained himself and just smiled at the duo. The unnamed alien snarled at Clint and grabbed a wicked looking knife. It stabbed it into Clint's leg. Clint grunted, used to knife wounds. When the alien twisted the blade, that caused Clint to gasp. No matter how often he got hit with a knife wound, twisting the object inside of him always bothered him. It smiled, leaving the knife in Clint before grabbing something else.

"Maybe this shut you up," the alien laughed, plunging what looked to be a tool bit, that one used to drill holes with, right into Clint's gut. Clint groaned at the pain but just glared down at the alien. It smirked before turning to leave.

"Sir?" Chamio asked. The alien didn't respond, just walked out. After a moment, Chamio followed. Clint's head collapsed onto his chest, eyes closed as to not see the items still sticking out of him.

"Still liking this plan?" Loki questioned, a vicious sense of 'amusement' in his voice. Clint smiled, careful not to jostle whatever was in his gut. He could tell that Loki wasn't finding this humorous at all.

"It's good. I'm fine," the archer grunted. Loki raised an eyebrow.

"If this is fine, I don't want to know when you think things aren't fine," the trickster responded. That did get Clint to laugh and moan when the item in his gut shifted.

* * *

They were left alone for two hours again. This time, because Clint was slowly bleeding out, he hardly registered the return of Chamio and the gray alien. The alien laughed, finally making Clint look up. He tried to act like he had noticed them the second they entered but everyone (outside of Drak) could see the glaze partially over his eyes.

"Oh, hey, you're back," Clint groaned. This made the alien reach forward and twist the gut item. Clint cried out, trying to twist himself away. Blood poured out faster than before and Loki twitched. Clint subtly tried to shake his head no. But the trickster couldn't hold back.

"Stop! You'll kill him!" Loki roared. The alien paused, turning back to the trickster. Clint groaned. Son of a bitch.

"Fuck you. This is a pin prick," Clint snarled, trying to get the alien's focus back on him. The alien turned to look back at Clint and then to Loki. When it moved to Loki, Clint hissed. This was why he had wanted everyone silenced. He had to try even harder now to regain the alien's attention. Loki lifted his head a bit, ready for whatever was going to happen. He had half expected he'd draw attention to himself, but he couldn't just sit back and watch what was happening to Clint anymore. "What? Tired of me already?"

"Arath?" Chamio asked, watching the gray alien. Arath ignored the, what everyone assumed was, younger alien. The alien grabbed an item similar to the one in Clint's gut. Arath moved toward Loki. Clint was nearly in a blind panic right now. He knew that Loki had likely gone through some torture in his life but the Lie-smith didn't have to go through it now.

"HEY! FUCK FACE!" Clint roared. Arath ignored the archer and harshly stabbed the item into Loki's gut. The trickster gasped at the pain but didn't otherwise respond to it. Clint glared at Loki. The Asgardian shouldn't have spoken at all. Smiling, Arath turned to the table and grabbed something that looked like electrodes. Turning back to Clint, the alien started attaching them to various parts of the archer's body. Loki snarled, ready to cry out again but Clint's darkened gaze made him stop. The trickster was ready to go again but he realized now that Clint would never forgive him if Loki tried to take the attention away from him again. So, instead he looked to the other guardians.

Smiling even more, Arath just placed things in spots all over the archer's body. Chamio frowned but grabbed some random cream and moved forward. He pulled out the gut tool to Clint's gasp of pain. Then Chamio rubbed the cream all over Clint's wounds before moving down to the knife. Before everyone's eyes, Clint's wounds healed over. Clint chuckled at it even as his stomach dropped. This really wasn't going to be good. Maybe he took the whole pissing these guys off a bit too far. But he couldn't stop now.

"Nifty," he whispered. Chamio looked up as if shocked. Apparently most victims didn't like getting healed over so more torture could be inflected on them. Loki's mouth twisted into anger, his face darkening and promising extreme retribution. Once both aliens were done, they backed away. Arath grabbed some sort of remote and smiled.

"You answer questions," Arath ordered. Clint laughed.

"Then ask one," he snarked. Arath apparently didn't like that. He pressed the button and not to Clint's surprise, electricity raced through his body. This has been done to him so many times in the past that he was hardly phased. Arath really didn't enjoy that. Clint just smirked when the electricity stopped racing through him. Arath turned to Chamio and whispered something to the younger alien. Chamio nodded and rushed out of the room. "Well? Gonna ask?"

Chamio returned with a bucket of something similar to water but was clearly thicker. Frowning, Clint watched as the two layered it all over the areas the electrodes touched. It took a minute or two before they were done. Then they backed away. Clint stared at Arath, expectantly. Arath didn't speak, but he did press the remote again. Clint was stunned with the huge increase of pain from the electrify but he refused to react. Arath really didn't like that, so he just kept holding the remote out at Clint. It wasn't gonna be long before Clint cried out.

"Arath," Chamio whispered after Clint closed his eyes. The archer was attempting to focus on something happy other than the pain. Thoughts of his family drifted through his mind and then of the Avengers. Arath finally stopped. Clint sighed in relief. He wouldn't have been able to stand much more even with the happier thoughts.

"Who is your captain?" Arath finally asked. Clint sighed, his mind racing for a moment before he smirked.

"Morgan," the archer answered. Loki snorted, unable to stop himself. While he may not be from Earth, he did know the alcoholic drink.

"Which one of you is Morgan?" Arath demanded, looking around at the others. No one answered, mostly due to the spell Loki had put on them but also because it wasn't their name. When they stayed silent, Clint was shocked again. Still, no one answered and once again, Clint was so glad that Loki had laid the silencing spell on the guardians. "You lie!"

"Oh, sorry. That's my alcoholic drink," Clint chuckled. Arath didn't find that funny. He shocked the archer again. This time Clint grunted.

"Who is your _captain_?" Arath snapped.

"Picard." Again a shock. "Hook."

"WE NO JOKE!" Arath screamed at Clint. Clint just looked at him.

"Captain Crunch." Arath snarled and left the room. Clint sighed, actually disappointed for once. It was a nice challenge to come up with a bunch of Captain names. "Aw... I had a few more Captains set up..."

"You didn't want to say America?" Loki wondered with an amused smirk. He could tell all of this was wearing on Clint but he could also tell that the archer was determined to see this through. Loki wasn't going to take away Clint's choice in this. Clint shrugged.

"Would have gotten to him sooner or later," Clint admitted. Loki chuckled and looked around the room. Nearly everyone was glaring at him. With a sigh, Loki looked back to Clint. Clint huffed and nodded. Carefully the trickster undid his silencing spell.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?" Quill cried the second he realized the spell was off him. Clint glanced at him.

"Hmm?" the archer replied.

"Just answer the guy! Stop... Stop messing around," Quill called. Clint snorted.

"If I answer one, they're gonna want more. And I'm sorry, but do you want to admit being captain and having this _friendly_ conversation with them?" Clint countered. Quill paled and Clint knew the answer. The guardian wouldn't be able to handle this.

"You don't need to do this alone," Gamora pointed out. Clint sighed. Might as well just explain why he could easily handle this and why it was more important that the aliens focused on him than giving them free reign to attack everyone.

"On Earth, I am a spy and assassin as well as being a superhero. Do you know how often I get tortured for information? As I told these guys. This, this is fucking child's play," Clint retorted.

"You are frackin messed up in the head," Rocket whispered. Clint looked to him.

"Again, you want to say that you're captain?" Clint accused. He needed to drill it into their heads that if they said anything, all this would move to them. Case in point being Loki. Rocket looked away. "Exactly. I can handle this, I know I can. When it gets too bad, I'll start actually answering them. For now, let me do this and keep you all safe. We all saw what happened when Loki tried helping!"

Loki winced, glancing down at the tool still in his gut. Everyone else also looked at him and winced. They had to admit, Clint was keeping them safe. Even if it was at his expense. Didn't stop them from wanting to help the archer. It was unfair that out of seven people only one was getting hurt.

"I am Groot," Groot called. Clint sighed trying hard not to laugh in relief.

"See, at least one of you appreciates this," the archer snipped.

They lapsed into silence after that. Clint sighed, looking down as his body. It was bright red like his skin had been waxed or a layer had been removed. The wounds from the gut thing were healed with only minor scars. Same for the wound on his leg. They all waited... And waited... And waited. Finally, Clint looked to Loki and then to Quill.

"Can I trust you to keep quite no matter what you see?" Clint asked. Quill frowned.

"What do you think is gonna happen?" Quill retorted. Clint sighed.

"If you think what's happened already was bad, wait for it. That was them just starting," Clint informed. Again, Quill and Rocket burst into upset chatter. Clint silenced them. "HEY! Look, if they have some sort of healing gel, it means they have a lot more in store. A lot more. Maybe even bringing me close to death. I don't want anyone getting any bright ideas."

At that last line, he glared at Loki who still had the tool in his gut. Loki huffed and looked away. Quill sighed, looking over to Loki as well. The guardian couldn't help but wince yet again. He really didn't want to know if he could handle that type of pain.

"Drax the Destroyer does not fear these urchins!" Drax nearly shouted from behind Clint. The archer sighed and nodded to Loki, who simply waved his hand and Drax was silenced again.

"You know, that's not cool," Rocket muttered. Clint looked to him.

"I'm trying to protect you right now. If it takes a silencing spell to do so, then oh well. Better than getting the shit beaten out of ya," Clint snarled. Rocket huffed.

"I won't speak," the raccoon promised. Clint nodded.

"If it looks like you will, Loki will put the spell on you," Clint ordered, giving the Lie-smith a quick look that said there would be hell to pay if the magic user did not do as asked. Loki nodded. He knew that none of the guardians would seriously be able to handle what Clint was. In fact, Loki doubted he'd be able to. Just this one item in hit gut was giving him a lot of difficulty. While Loki had indeed been tortured in the past, this item had some sort of poison that was running through him. How Clint had not felt that, Loki could only guess.

"I'll do it for any of them," Loki replied. Clint's eyes widened a fraction before dropping his head to his chest, tired.

"You barely know us. Why would you do this?" Gamora wondered. Clint shrugged.

"On Earth, I'm part of a team... We... We handle some big issues, protecting our planet and the people on it. Kinda sticks with a guy to want to protect everyone," Clint sighed. The door opened and a new alien walked in, some type of collar in his hands. Clint raised an eyebrow at it. Everyone stared at it, confused. The alien ignored them all and simply put the collar on Clint's neck and then walked away. "Uh..."

"Is it just me, or was that weird?" Quill questioned.

"Weird," Clint quickly answered before frowning. He looked up with a groan. "Aw... truth collar... no."

"You've faced this before?" Gamora inquired, surprised. Typically when someone faced one of these, they were killed once the questioner had gotten their questions answered.

"Yeah. A couple of times. Not really nice," Clint replied, a grimace on his face. They could all see that Clint hadn't wanted to answer.

"You have to answer truthfully but also, need to answer every question," Loki explained, noting the type of collar that was around Clint's neck. Clint nodded with a huff. Apparently they had moved on from torture for now. Arath entered the room without Chamio. There was a pleased smile on Arath's face.

"You forced to answer correctly now," Arath needless pointed out. Clint sighed. "Who is your captain?"

"Steven Grant Rogers," Clint retorted, his eyes closing in despair. Even though they were no where near him, Clint still felt horrible admitting it. Loki sighed now. It wasn't a lie. Clint and he were not part of this group, so they wouldn't know the actual captain of the Milano. Arath smiled.

"Which one is he?" Arath asked.

"None of them," Clint answered with a tiny wince, his eyes lifting minutely so he could see the alien. Arath frowned.

"Explain," the alien demanded. While not really a question, the collar still wanted him to answer the tone. Clint grimaced, closing his eyes once it again. It was clear he was trying to fight answering but the collar was going to get through him.

"I was transported out here by accident. Where I come from, I work underneath Captain Steve Rogers," Clint told the alien, his eyes flicking up to Loki before aiming back to Arath. Loki frowned. This wasn't going the way Clint had hoped it would. Apparently this was when Clint deemed things not fine. For half a second Loki thought about putting a silencing spell on Clint but the collar would injure the archer if he couldn't answer.

"Where do you come from?" Arath wondered. Clint tried to stop himself this time before glancing at Loki and holding the trickster's gaze. He got an idea.

"Midgard," he grumbled as if it was a chore. Arath made a face.

"What?"

"Midgard," Clint repeated, a sigh on his lips. He was so thankful that that had worked. Even Loki gave a small smile of relief. There was a slight chance that Clint could twist the battle in his favor again.

"Where is that?" Arath hissed. Clint shrugged with a soft laugh.

"Told you. I was sent here by accident," Clint said. Arath growled.

"Who sent you?" Arath snarled. Clint snapped his mouth closed. There was no way in _hell_ he was gonna answer that. He'd die before that answer came from his mouth. Loki hissed in surprise. He knew what was going to happen next. Clint would be forced to inform these creatures about his family. Arath frowned. No one had been able to fight the collar before. "_Who_ sent you?"

Clint growled, forcing his mouth to stay closed. Growling himself, Arath punched Clint in the gut, hard. Clint's mouth opened in surprise and that was all it took.

"My son," he nearly shouted out before he could regain control of himself. The room stilled.

"Who is your son?" Arath asked. Again, Clint snapped his mouth closed. No way. No way in hell was some alien race learn who his kid was. It was bad enough that they knew he had a kid. Arath snarled, punching Clint in the gut again. This time, Clint was prepared and his mouth didn't even budge. Arath's face darkened and he grabbed the abandoned knife from before. He stabbed it into Clint's right side. Clint grunted but his mouth didn't open. "ANSWER ME! WHO IS YOUR SON!?"

Clint's eyes went pinched as he continued to fight. He bit on his lower bit in an effort to hold his mouth closed. Loki frowned, watching the archer. No wonder he had had such a hard time getting information from him during the attack with the Chitarui. Clint was so much more mentally stronger than anyone had thought. Arath pulled the knife out and stabbed Clint again, this time in the meat of his left arm. Clint groaned, but still held his mouth closed. The archer now started biting his tongue. When that didn't work, Arath did it to the other arm. And when Clint didn't respond to that, Arath pulled on Clint's body, stretching the archer's limbs. Clint silently screamed, really fighting to keep his mouth closed. Arath cried out in anger and walked out of the room. Loki listened for a moment.

"They are gone," Loki announced, knowing Clint wasn't going to be able to hold it back forever.

"Cooper!" Clint finally cried, breathing heavily. Tears slowly began to fall down his face. That was so much worse than any of the truth collars he had faced at home. Fuck aliens and have better technology.

"I've never seen someone resit that for so long," Gamora whispered. Clint's head stayed on his chest as he tried to regain himself to a normal state. It was clear that even though Clint had lasted as long as he did, the archer would likely not be able to go through it again. "Never mind a Terran."

"He is much stronger than he looks," Loki softly pointed out. Clint gave a light chuckled but didn't speak. "But, you won't be able to last long."

"I know... It really sucked this time. I don't think I can do it again," Clint admitted, his eyes slowly looking to Loki before falling again. Loki winced. This was not good. They needed to get out of here. But no one knew they were here.

"Can you like, lock up the parts of his mind that he don't want to talk about?" Rocket inquired, looking at Loki. Loki shook his head.

"No. The collar would still go past that. As Gamora said, no one has resisted for so long," Loki explained.

* * *

**Wow, lots of words this chapter!**

**Darius has been doing good this week. Giving me issues with bathroom problems still but otherwise only upsetting me when I'm tired or in pain. Which, I have been in pain. But, again. Good. Baby Jason is just as good as well. Currently watching his father put together a bouncer cause he needs one. Hope he likes it.**

**Might post another chapter later this week... Don't fully expect it as I might forget. So, at least until next time. Have a good week!**


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 - Nova Corps

The room fell into silence as they thought over everything that had happened. Clint was close to passing out at this point, his body having gone through far too much in a short period of time, even with the healing ointment. Loki had a deep frown on his face as he watched the archer. This was more than he had expected of the human. Quill watched over Clint, wishing there was something he could do. Rocket focused on the ground. Groot didn't concentrate on any one thing and Drax looked like he fell asleep. Gamora, like Loki, was frowning at the archer but like Quill, she wished she could help. Finally, something struck Quill.

"I thought you said you were from Earth," Quill called. Clint nodded.

"I am. But, I'm assuming that not every alien out here cause it Earth," Clint replied. Quill nodded his head. Most called it Terra. Clint nodded his head to Loki. "Loki's people call Earth, Midgard. So I wasn't lying, nor answering incorrectly. That is indeed a name of where I come from."

"Ah," Quill hummed. Clint sighed.

"That's one thing I learned about truth collars a while back. While you have to state the truth, it is a truth you know well or believe. As I believe Earth is named Midgard, it isn't a lie. If I believe it was, I don't know, Planet Bob... Then, I could say that," Clint explained.

"So, why not say a nickname for your kid?" Rocket asked. Clint winced.

"I ain't letting any more people know about my family," Clint growled. Seconds later, Arath returned.

"Let try again. Who is-"

"Tony Stark?" Loki quickly interrupted, knowing right away how to cover this. Clint smirked and gave out as much detail as he could about the Avenger, planning on stalling. Silently he sent out a mental apology to his friend, but it was better than talking about Cooper. Arath snarled, glaring at Loki. Loki smiled back at him. The gray alien turned back to Clint.

"Who is-"

"The man who taught you how to use a bow?" Loki finished. Clint answered with not only Buck's name but also Jacques. Arath let out another angered noise.

"Who is-"

"Lady Sif?" Again, Clint answered. The alien spun and smacked Loki across the face and it was now that Loki noted what Clint had meant. His eyes were burning but he wasn't going to let it stop him. Just like Clint.

"Who is-" Arath tried again.

"The fourth President of the United States!" Quill shouted, quickly understanding what Loki was doing.

"James Madison," the archer sighed. Arath loudly growled at Quill.

"You all silence," Arath demanded. He looked back to Clint. "Who is-"

"The first one of us you spoke to?" Gamora cried. Arath screamed over Clint's answer.

"WHO IS-"

"Your best friend?" Rocket called.

"Natalia Romanova," Clint reported with a wince. Loki made a face at that but didn't say anything. Arath glared at everyone.

"Silence!" the alien roared. "WHO IS-"

"Flash Gordon," Quill continued. Arath made an inhuman screech that had everyone wincing even as Clint dutifully reported all he knew about the fictional character. This whole thing went on for maybe a half hour. Loki, Rocket, Quill and Gamora traded back and forth with random questions. Anything from the brand of his favorite food to information on fictional characters. By the half hour mark, everyone could see that Arath was wearing thin.

"WHO IS-" Arath started.

"Your favorite Disney Princess?" Loki asked, fishing for questions at this point. The room fell silent other than Clint's pained response. What was a Disney Princess?

"Moana," Clint answered. He hated that Loki knew about Disney thanks to Nate and Lila's love of it. Arath shouted and punched Clint in the gut. Clint hardly reacted. Now too pissed to continue, Arath stormed out. There was a minute of silence before the room erupted into laughter.

"Oh my god, thanks," Clint finally stated, looking them all over.

"I doubt we'll be given the opportunity again, but we have stalled him for now," Loki informed. Clint nodded. He appreciated it none the less. As they waited for the alien to return, they chatted about this and that. Comparing different stories and overall just trying to make the best out of a shitting situation. Then Loki went silent and twisted his head.

"Loki?" Clint asked the second he noticed it. Everyone went silent.

"There are explosions," the trickster informed.

"Wonder if that's good news for us," Quill replied.

"We'll see," Clint commented, knowing he really hadn't had much luck with alien species so far, outside of the guardians. Slowly, the explosions drew closer. Along with shouts of pain and fear. It was maybe a minute later before there was an explosion nearby that blasted the door to the cell inside. Rocket cried out in shock as he had been closest to the door. A few seconds later, a head popped into the room.

"DEY!" Quill cried at the sight of the man. The man looked across the room and frowned.

"Hello," 'Dey' replied. Quill shook his chains.

"Wanna help us get out of here?" Quill asked. Dey looked them all over.

"And if I say no?" Dey wondered.

"Then I'd say you aren't doing your job," Clint muttered unable to help himself. The damn collar was still on him. There was a pause before Quill and Rocket burst into laughter. Loki gave Clint a questioning look. Clint rolled his eyes and nodded his head toward a small glittering part of Dey's outfit. There were marks on the man's sleeve and Loki noted it looked like some sort of military marking.

"Who are you?" Dey asked, staring right at Clint.

"An ex-carnie who got lost in space and just wants to go home," Clint retorted, fighting from spilling too much but giving enough to stop the force of answering. Dey opened his mouth to ask another question when his eyes focused on the collar around Clint's neck. The officer sighed and entered into the room more. Now that he was in, Dey noticed all the injuries littering Clint's body. Surprised, Dey just stared. "Picture lasts longer."

Dey looked up to Clint shocked again before he shook it off and headed closer to take off the collar. When it was removed, Clint couldn't help but sigh and relax his body in relief. Dey then turned to Loki, figuring that while Clint should be the first one down, there was no way the archer would be able to not only help but stay standing. With an apology on his face, Dey yanked out the instrument that had never been removed from the trickster's gut. While Dey was distracted, Loki undid his spell on Drax, which didn't really matter as indeed, the guy was sleeping.

"What happened here?" Dey wondered, searching the room for a way to release the captives.

"We got trapped here by a larger ship, they drug us into their landing bay, blew out the back door, fired on us till we dropped, then we woke here, and they tortured the new guy while hardly asking any questions," Quill summarized just as Dey found what he was looking for. Sadly, it was near the door again. Slowly, the officer went to Rocket and started undoing the cuffs.

"So, you weren't trying to rob them?" Dey accused, his eyes focusing on Rocket even as the shackles released the raccoon and Groot. Dey moved onto Drax after that.

"What? Now why would we do that?" Rocket tried to innocently answer.

"Yeah, doubt he'd believe you," Clint mumbled. Dey snorted as he allowed Drax to fall face first onto the floor. Amazingly, Drax didn't even stir.

"No, we were led into a trap by a false distress signal," Loki explained. Dey looked at the trickster even as he unhooked Gamora from her shackles. The officer then moved to Loki. Everyone but Loki and Clint ignoring Quill's cry of distress. Course all they did was glance at the guardian before focusing once again on Dey.

"You're one of the Asgardian Princes, right?" Dey inquired. Loki stiffened for a moment before nodding. "What happened to Asgard?"

"We... We were attacked and had to abandon our home. Currently, the remains of our planet are on Midgard," Loki reported, careful in his speech.

"Dude... You're a prince?" Rocket muttered, awed. Loki rolled his eyes as Dey finished. Without speaking to anyone, the trickster headed to Clint and quickly began healing the archer's injuries. "Uh... Why didn't you do that before?"

"The spell requires touch," Loki stated, backing away so that Dey could free Clint. Once the shackles came off, Clint sadly dropped nearly to the floor before Loki grabbed hold of him. "I cannot help blood loss."

Clint grunted in thanks and with Loki's support, got back to his feet. Dey nodded to the group and headed to the door. Clint frowned, glancing back at Quill who just sighed. Gamora and Rocket had headed over, intent on waking Drax and so they hadn't really noticed Quill was still trapped.

"Are... Are you seriously gonna leave him?" Clint wondered, not getting a good feeling about this guy anymore. Dey stopped and looked back with an extremely disinterested look. Gamora looked up to see Quill still imprisoned and sighed. Of course Dey would do that.

"Oh. Forgot he was there," Dey retorted with the most sarcastic look on his face. Clint shivered. That wasn't anything like how he expected he had expected this rescue to go. Dey wasn't someone that Clint wanted to be around anymore. Especially given the treatment Clint had been getting by a lot of the aliens he had run into (Drax, Groot and Gamora aside) since all this started.

"Ha ha ha," Quill replied with a version of humorous sarcasm that still made Clint uncomfortable with the officer. Dey smiled and headed over to unlock Quill's cuffs. With all of them free, Dey headed to the front of the group to get them out to safety. "What brings the Nova Corps to this ship?"

"There was a warning that these Trogziks had been luring ships in for an attempt at riches, slaves, and information," Dey informed.

"So, you knew we might have been victims?" Quill snarled actually pissed off this time and it looked like none of the others liked the idea either. Dey shrugged and Clint frowned deeply, harshly watching the man. He wasn't right. Clint couldn't say what it was. Just Dey wasn't good. Loki glanced at Clint and noticed that archer's distaste of the officer. Frowning, the trickster paid more attention to the man. He couldn't sense anything but given Clint's rather impressive intuition, Loki was going to trust the archer.

"It is you guys," the officer replied.

"I'm beginning to think we asked for help from the wrong group," Clint joked as his eyes narrowed on Dey in a way that was so much different than his tone. The guy really wasn't painting himself in a good light but Clint wanted to see if he'd treat Loki and himself the same way he treated the guardians. Dey couldn't stop his snort of surprise.

* * *

Getting rescued by Nova Corps was actually more helpful then Loki or Clint had thought. The Trogziks had started fixing the Milano for some reason so some Nova Corps agents stood there protecting it. Quill and Rocket (with Groot on his shoulder) rushed the smaller ship in excitement and wanting to check over the repairs done. Drax followed slowly after them but Gamora waited with Loki and Clint.

"Do you want us to bring you both back to where you come from? I'm assuming it's Terra," Dey wondered. Clint looked to Gamora before looking back at Dey and shook his head. Loki smirked, hiding his surprise at Clint's response. Even if the archer had had a bad feeling about Dey, there was no way Clint was getting it from the entire Nova Corps. But the trickster figured Clint was done with answering questions at the moment. He would have to ask about this later. For now, he'd follow Clint's intuition.

"I believe we will be fine with them. They were very helpful with their assistance," Loki cooed, making Dey frown but nod. With permission from Dey, the group headed to the Milano and took off again. As they flew off, Gamora focused on Loki.

"I'm curious as to why you chose to stay with us, rather than go with Nova Corps," Gamora stated once they took off. Loki glanced over to Clint, unsure if the archer would answer. Clint shrugged.

"Something about that guy felt off..." Clint admitted. Loki frowned. He had just been willing to follow the archer. Clint got into numerous amounts of trouble on a daily basis on Earth... Who knows what could happen to the archer in space. "I mean... I get that Nova Corps supposed to be like this elite space police group but... I didn't get a good feeling."

"And you get a good feeling from us?" Rocket countered. Clint shrugged again. It was hard to explain. "As I said, you're messed up in the brain."

"Clint, what was off about him?" Loki asked, now extremely curious. Clint frowned, trying to figure out how best to state it. But he couldn't.

"I don't know," Clint growled, unsure what else to say. Loki gave him an odd look. "I don't know what to tell ya. I just didn't like him."

"Did he remind you of someone?" Loki pressed. Clint huffed, looking away from everyone. Loki shifted closer, getting the feeling that that's what it was. "Did he remind you of someone?"

"My dad... He reminded me a bit of my dad," Clint hissed, looking quickly to Quill and then away again. The ship fell silent.

"Would that not make one happy?" Drax questioned. Clint flinched keeping his eyes focused away from everyone. He doubted even Loki knew this much about his past.

"He beat you," Gamora noted. Having her own experience with Thanos beating her, she could see similar signs on Clint. But the archer didn't confirm or deny what she said.

"That's rough man," Quill called, his voice soft. Clint huffed. It was because of Quill that Clint got that feeling from Dey. There was no way it was fair to treat someone that was a prisoner in one custody and leave them just because you don't trust them or even doing it as a joke to a 'friend.'

"He beat the shit out of my mom, my brother and me. Nearly killed me a few times since he started before I could even walk. Guy was drunk nearly 24/7. That's why for my sixth birthday, he wrapped him and my mom into a tree, making my brother and I orphans," Clint explained.

"What happened to your brother?" Quill inquired. Clint sighed.

"Don't know. Last I heard he might have been arrested for petty theft, but there was also rumors that he died and/or works for the FBI now," Clint grumbled.

"You do not care?" Drax wondered. Clint exhaled sharply.

"When I was sixteen, he tried to kill me. Left me for dead on the side of the road. Kinda stopped caring what happened to him after that," Clint replied before moving to the bunk rooms, not allowing anyone else to ask any more questions. Once he was gone, the guardians looked to Loki who was frowning. He had heard a bit of the story of Clint's brother trying to kill the archer, but he had not known about the rest of Clint's family. The trickster now understood why Clint had been so willing to stand up to Odin for his sake and he almost was tempted to find a spell that could send him back in time to return the favor.

"So... Any impressive back story we get from you?" Rocket joked. Loki smirked.

"I am a Prince of Asgard but Asgard was destroyed and our people have since moved to Midgard," Loki reminded before moving to follow Clint into the bunk area. Distantly he heard Rocket give an innocent 'what?' Sighing, Loki ignored it all and went deeper until he found Clint sitting in the room they were set to share. He was on the bed, head in his hands. "I did not mean to pry."

"Nah... Its just... Not many people know about my full history. Laura only got the edited version of my dad got drunk and killed mom in a car accident. And I told her lovely amazing stories about working at Carson's... But I was abused there too. If I missed a shot by even a millimeter, I was beaten raw and then told to do it again. I was forced to practice for hours on end so that they knew I could preform even while exhausted or sick. Being a headliner meant my act was scrutinized more than others. I got blamed for anything from a light failure to missing in the slightest way," Clint explained. There was no good way to say how bad his life actually had been.

"I apologize," Loki muttered. "Had I kno-"

"Don't. Even if you knew, they would have gotten it out of me too. People know I got abused, but they never knew who did it," Clint sighed. He hadn't even told the Avengers the full stories of what had happened to him. There was no way anyone was prepared for that and he was certain that Natasha and likely Bucky, would try and do a pissing contest about who had it worse. They already did it to themselves, no need to through the archer into the mix.

* * *

"So, you want to delay us again, to go help this 'Sovereign' person?" Clint summarized nearly a week after their run in with Dey. They had gotten the call earlier that day and while Gamora almost tried to take control and force them on the path there, Quill called for a group meeting. It wasn't just them anymore.

"They have my sister captive and if we defeat the Abilisk for them, they will hand her over," Gamora stressed. Clint could see that Gamora wasn't doing this out of the kindness of her heart. He figured her relationship with her sister was rather similar to his relationship with Barney.

"And the reward for her on Xander is amazing," Rocket whispered.

"I am wary of being near both Daughters of Thanos," Loki grumbled. Clint frowned.

"Dude, what is your beef with Thanos?" Quill finally demanded. Loki rolled his eyes, not willing to get into any of it.

"Thanos tortured him for over a year before making him attack Earth," Clint snapped, sick and tired of all the god damn fighting. Loki glanced at Clint but the archer didn't even attempt to look at the trickster. The Lie-smith knew it would have come out sooner or later and rather than getting upset with Clint, Loki couldn't help but sigh in relief. At least it wasn't him who had to state it.

"You should seek vengeance! Like I," Drax declared. Loki huffed.

"I'm much rather never see him again," the trickster retorted finally knowing where he had heard the name from.

"Drax, buddy. No offense but if the magic user doesn't want to be near Thanos, doubt you'd get anywhere close to revenge," Rocket pointed out. Drax frowned.

"Drax the Destroyer will get his revenge on Thanos! Or I will die fighting!" Drax cried. Loki snorted.

"Be that as it may, not everyone holds the same sentiment," the trickster mentioned.

"I am Groot," Groot called. Loki sighed.

"I understand that many of you feel the same. But, I would not like to be involved. I merely wish to return to Midgard and stay far away from him," Loki argued. Clint rolled his eyes a bit. He had the same sentiment as the trickster but he was also a hero. The archer couldn't help about seriously thinking of helping.

"I am Groot."

"Do not presume to know me." Clint looked over to Quill and Gamora for help but they just shook their heads. This was up to Groot and Loki.

"I am Groot."

"You are _nothing_ in the grand scheme of things," Loki hissed.

"I am Groot."

"You really think this team can best him? You have one of his highly trained daughters with you and you still do not hold a shot at winning." Gamora actually winced at that, even if Loki had a good point. Thanos had trained her. He knew how she fought and would easily overwhelm her.

"I am Groot."

"Name calling will not change my opinion."

"I am Groot."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Groot, that's enough. Rocket, watch what you say around him, and Loki... I understand your feelings on this. But this needs to be done. We can't wait till after we drop you off," Quill responded. Loki snorted.

"You are courting death just as much as he," the trickster snarled and walked off to the bunks again. Clint sighed, watching him go. When he turned back, the guardians were staring at him.

"Look, it's your choice on the matter. We're just along for the ride. But honestly, we just want to go home," Clint begged. As much as he wanted to help, Clint feared what was happening on Earth. More particularly Cooper. Likely the teen though he had killed Loki and Clint. Quill frowned.

"I have not had a lead on my sister in nearly a year. If I skip this chance now, I may never see her again," Gamora growled focusing on Quill. Rocket also leveled a glare at Quill. The reward for Nebula was rather astonishing and it would help in the long run.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. Trust me, I'm more than willing to help the Sovereign but... We risk a great deal by having you, her and Loki aboard," Clint stated, looking to Gamora. That took the wind out of everyone's sails as they seriously thought about it. "We have to look at the big picture. Getting Nebula just paints a gigantic target on our backs. And as Loki said, I don't think we even have the slightest chance of winning."

"I'm sorry Clint. But we're taking the job," Quill declared after a quick look around at his friends. Clint sighed. He already knew this was going to be their choice. Didn't make it any harder to hear. "We can't just ignore this."

"I understand," Clint sighed again before turning and going to find Loki. Quill looked to Gamora.

"Are they right? Is this going to be a bad idea?" he asked. Gamora sighed.

"Even if Loki was not here, bringing Nebula and myself together is a dangerous combination. A combination that you would never have questioned if Loki did not mention it," Gamora replied, making sure that Quill knew her well. If Clint and Loki weren't on the ship, they would already have been halfway there in this moment. Quill sighed. He had to trust Gamora knew what she was doing.

"Lets go to Sovereign," he announced.

* * *

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 - Ego

"What were you thinking?" Quill roared, everyone jostling in the ship as the Sovereign's ships attacked.

"Dude, they were really easy to steal," Rocket retorted.

"That doesn't mean you steal from the most, what did you say, 'conceited douchebags?' Smart," Clint hissed, not for the first time wishing he and Loki had gone and helped the guardians. But Loki had said it wasn't their fight and they should not join due to it delaying their return to Earth. Quill had refused to argue with the duo and Clint was forced to back down when Loki locked him in one of the bunk rooms. Rocket huffed and started a verbal war with Quill over the raccoon being an idiot for stealing the batteries from the Sovereign. Loki glanced at Clint.

"And you still believe these are the better choice to follow?" the trickster snarled, waving his hand to the bickering guardians before them. Clint rolled his eyes, turning to look at him.

"Drop it, there is enough fighting going on right now," the archer snapped.

"Can we put this bickering on hold until after we survive this massive space battle?" Gamora sharply pointed out, drawing Clint's attention to the front once again.

"More incoming!" Quill needlessly announced.

"Good! I wanna kill some guys!" Rocket announced. Clint rolled his eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" the archer harshly questioned as Rocket began yelling and shooting at whatever came within firing range. Clint rolled his eyes and looked out, trying to find a way for them to get out of this whole mess.

"You're not killing anyone. All those ships are remotely piloted," Gamora mentioned. Ducking and dodging all around the area was getting them no where. A few seconds later and suddenly there was a hit against the ship.

"Interesting. They were avoiding killing blows before," the Lie-smith noted. Clint, Drax and Nebula looked to him. "They must not care for the batteries any longer."

"What's the nearest habitable planet?" Quill demanded. Gamora quickly pulled up the information, ignoring the conversation behind her.

"It's called Berhert," Gamora informed.

"How many jumps?" Quill wondered.

"Only one. But the access point is 47 clicks away," Gamora finished. There was a silent cussing. "And you'd have to go through that quantum asteroid field."

"There! That field!" Clint called, pointing to the field on their right. Without asking further, Quill quickly shifted the Milano in that direction.

"Oh yes, get us killed," Loki grumbled.

"To get through that, you must be the greatest pilot in the universe," Drax stated. Quill pushed them further.

"You cannot be serious," Nebula grumbled. Clint flipped her off, sick and tired of dealing with all of this. That got Loki to snort in amusement.

"Lucky for us, I am," Quill replied, even as Rocket spoke 'I am' over him. After that, Rocket set the controls to his area with Quill looking at him in disbelief. After a moment, Quill took it back.

"What are you doing?" Rocket retorted, looking to the man. Clint groaned at them, of course they'd do this now. Behind him Loki rolled his eyes. Gamora and Drax just let it happen with only one comment to try and stop them. The two ignored her and continued to bicker until the back end of the ship hit one of the rocks and ripped open the back end of the ship. Loki's quick think saved him and Clint from being tossed out as the other guardians, sans Drax, who had a tight grip on the wall, were safely buckled in. Quill quickly set up a shield that protected the group from flying out of the back end. Loki glanced back in time to see Nebula fall to the ground, mostly free. He snorted. Serves the guardians right for not properly thinking all of this through.

"IDIOTS!" Nebula shouted. Loki turned and moved to grab her, wanting to keep an eye on her.

"Well, that's what you get when Quill flies," Rocket announced. Gamora snatched something off the floor and tossed it at Rocket, hitting the raccoon in the ear. "Ow!"

Clint grunted as Gamora announced they were still in trouble and how close they were to the jump. Quill informed them of their situation. Weapons down. Clint looked to Loki, wondering if the trickster could help but Loki waved his hand to the image before them. He was not going to let Clint get away with any of this. Clint rolled his eyes as Drax walked past. When the alien hooked something to his belt, the archer frowned.

"Drax?" he wondered as Drax nabbed a small disk that he pressed to his back and activated a small blue halo of protection around him. Loki's eyes widened and he grabbed Clint once again and shoved them both against the wall. Nebula looked back, surprised. But thankfully, Drax was smart enough to put a shield between the others and the back area he was leaving from. "You can't be serious!"

"Courting death," Loki snarled as they watched Drax release the field holding him in and take off into space. It took a moment before the alien hit the end of his tether and once there, he shot and destroyed the spaceship that was still following them. In the clear, Qull finished traveling out of the field.

"Oh shit," the archer muttered. Quill looked up.

"Son of a... They went around the field!" the guardian declared even as the Milano was suddenly covered in attacks. Sparks and circuits came from everyone. Clint shifted a bit on his feet, glancing back to Loki who had planted his feet himself and just stared out the window. They sat there for maybe a minute or so before, to everyone's surprise, suddenly the whole group was destroyed in a flash of blue lightning.

"What is that?" Rocket wondered even as Quill basically told him to shut up.

"That just happened," Clint pointed out seconds before they passed through the jump point.

"Is it just me, or was there a guy on it?" Rocket mumbled. Behind him, Clint nodded but no one else responded.

"Just get to the jump point, we'll deal with it later," Gamora snapped. The travel through the jump point wasn't that bad, up until they got closer to the planet. Milano had taken too much damage and they had no control over the ship. Clint turned to the open space behind them.

"Jesus, he's still out there," the archer cussed before rushing back and grabbing the tether anchored to the ship just as it let go. Loki grabbed Clint just before he was dragged off as well. They landed roughly and once settled, Clint heard Drax call out in the distance that 'that was awesome.' "Fucking insane."

"And yet, you chose to stay with these morons rather than going with Nova Corps," Loki hissed as the guardians slipped by to check on the damage. "Look at what just happened! They crashed their ship all for a small reward over some Norn forsaken batteries!"

"Dude, just cut it out," Clint snarled. "I get it. This whole thing sucks ass, but I wasn't gonna travel with those assholes who can't even do their job correctly."

"Yet these are so much better at that?" Loki shouted as Clint spun on his heel and walked off the ship.

"You know why I did it Star-Munch? Hmm?" Rocket was announcing as the duo came out onto the planet.

"I'm not gonna answer to 'Star-Munch,'" Quill muttered under his breath. Clint couldn't stop his small huff of laughter that was ignored as Rocket called out over him.

"I did it because I wanted to!"

"Dick."

"What are we even talking about this for? We just had a little man save us by blowing up fifty ships!" Rocket accused. Clint rolled his eyes.

"How little?" Drax wondered.

"Well, I don't know, like this?" Rocket held his thumb and forefinger close together.

"He wasn't that small," Clint argued.

"Well, if he got closer, I'm sure he would be much larger!"

"It's how eyesight works, you stupid raccoon," Quill growled.

"Don't call me a RACCOON!"

"I'm sorry. I took it too far. I meant trash panda," Quill snipped. Clint forced himself to try and hold back his laugh at that. Even Loki found himself cracking a smile at that. Rocket looked at everyone to see their reaction. When he stopped on Clint and Loki, he frowned.

"Is that better?" the raccoon asked. Clint's eyes flicked to Quill.

"It's worse. It's so much worse," Quill answered, chuckling. That got Clint to actually bust a solo laugh. Rocket roared and rushed to attack Quill who began to dodge the small mammal. As they fought, Loki and Nebula looked up, hearing a noise above them.

"Someone followed you through the jump point!" Nebula cried, getting the guardians to stop fighting and turn to see the giant white orb like ship coming toward them. Clint looked up at it.

"That was the ship that saved us," he announced with a quick look. Nebula turned to him.

"How are you so certain?" she hissed before looking to Gamora. "Set me free, you'll need my help."

"I'm not a fool, Nebula," Gamora began to argue.

"If whoever is on that ship just helped us, I doubt he'd want to fight," Clint grumbled, glancing at Loki who simply shrugged.

"You'd think an evil super-villain would learn how to properly lie," Quill whispered after hearing Nebula try and say she wouldn't attack her sister once free from her cuffs. Loki rolled his eyes even as Clint snorted. A moment later, the ship landed and two people emerged from yet.

"After all these years, I found you," the new guy announced.

"And who the hell are you?" Quill demanded.

"I figured my rugged good looks would make that obvious," the man called.

"Kurt Russel?" Clint whispered so that only Loki could hear. The trickster snorted but thankfully no one else heard.

"My name is Ego," the man introduced. Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" the archer wondered. Ego's eyes flicked to Clint for a moment before settling back onto Quill's.

"I'm your dad, Peter," Ego called. The area went dead silent.

"What?" Quill grunted out after a second.

"I am your father," Ego pressed. The guardians, Nebula, Clint and Loki all glanced to Quill to see how he was taking this news. It was clear that the man was still in shock.

"What?" Quill repeated.

"You broke him," Clint stated making Rocket, Nebula and Loki chuckle. Gamora did not look pleased and Drax looked the other guardian over.

"He does not look broken."

* * *

"Come, it will be a minor distraction while your friends fix the ship," Ego called after having invited all of them to join him on a journey to his planet on the 'edge of what is known.' It took her a bit, but Gamora had been able to convince Quill to go meet with his father, much to not only Quill's consternation but also to Clint's. The archer was still of the position that fathers sucked. Out of all of them, it seemed maybe Drax was the only one with a decent father. Not that Drax talked about his youth much. Clint chuckled awkwardly. Ego had been pretty keen on trying to get Clint to come along with Quill.

"Yeah, no... You hang out with your once missing kid. I'll stay here," the archer decided, moving closer to Loki as if the trickster would protect him. Unknown to him, Loki was actually readying his magic as a just in case. Ego was rubbing him the wrong way as well. There was no way this meeting with Ego was a coincidence. The Celestial shrugged, even though there was a deep frown on his face.

"Maybe we can speak another time," Ego replied. Clint snorted, muttering a 'yeah right' under his breath. Slowly, Ego walked back to his ship, waiting as Quill, Gamora and Drax headed back to the Milano to grab some things. As they were walking by, Clint heard Rocket and Quill do another bought of verbal sparing.

"I doubt this is a good idea to let them go," Clint murmured when the group had left. Rocket waved him off as Nebula headed a bit deeper into the ship to settle herself. Groot spun on a broken piece of the ship to look at the archer.

"It is not our place to stop them," Loki reminded.

"Let 'em go. Serves 'em right," Rocket grumbled. "Don't need 'em."

"Oh, go fuck yourself," Clint hissed, sick and tired of all this. Rocket waved him off in a very uncaring manner. Tossing his hands into the air, Clint turned and headed off to explore a bit. Loki frowned, watching the archer disappear. The trickster had a bad feeling about letting Clint wander off but the archer did need a minute or so to cool down. Maybe a walk would be good for him. Sadly, the trickster should have gone with the archer.

Hours passed and as the sky darkened, Loki realized that Clint hadn't returned. Mad at himself for not noticing sooner, Loki headed off in search of the archer without speaking to Rocket or Groot. Nebula glanced up but didn't speak. Tracing Clint's limited magic trail, Loki headed off, not hearing the sounds of battle behind him. It took far longer than Loki wished before he found Clint's trail ended up meeting with Ego's once again in what had seemed to have been the back of the ship. He cussed. Of course Ego would have grabbed Clint as soon as he could. The Celestial had shown too much interest for him to just let it go. Spinning, Loki headed back to the ship to find Groot was the only one left.

"Curse the Norns," Loki cried. Things were not going in their favor anymore. Clint was seriously wrong, they should have joined Nova Corps' offer of help. But, right now Loki needed to find Rocket, so he turned around just in time to get Nebula's fist to his face.

* * *

"I have never felt a human as powerful as you that has gone untrained for so long," Ego reported, moving closer to Clint now that the archer was awake. The archer snarled, pissed that that 'Mantis' alien had gotten the drop on him. He never should have gone for that walk. He should have stayed by Loki. Or made Loki go with him. Fucking Rocket. Fucking Quill. Fucking Space Stone. Hell, fucking Avengers, fucking Thor, fucking S.H.I.E.L.D and certainly FUCK HIS FATHER FOR HAVING NOT KILLED HIM!

"Yeah, well, I don't care what you think," Clint hissed, keeping his eyes trained on the Celestial before him. Ego smirked and leaned in close to Clint's face. The archer fought the instinct to talk back to the man, insult him or something. He could tell it wasn't going to end well for him. For once in his life, Clint was actually going to follow the suggestions everyone had given him about torture and interrogation. Maybe this time it would actually go well for him.

"Well, you might care when I start teaching you some spells," Ego replied as if he could force the archer to do such thing. But, when Clint remembered Loki's warning of the spell books that had been in the trickster's memory, the archer reared back, trying to move away. No way in hell was that going to happen. He wasn't going to have Ego win.

"No! NO! I won't!" Clint screamed, panic that he couldn't control flooding his system. Ego chuckled even though his face had a bit of confusion on it. That just made it even worse. Clint nearly whited out in fear. This alien had no idea who Clint was, what Clint cared about. Nothing. All Ego cared about was himself. And it was made worse when Ego suddenly smiled.

"You seem to think you have a choice," the Celestial said moving even closer to Clint. The archer couldn't help but whimper. There was no way out of this. Even if Clint could escape, he was on Ego's planet. Ego knew everything about this world. And Clint doubted that anyone even knew he was here. But before Ego could even touch the archer, he looked up as if some higher voice spoke to him. Clint tensed even further. What new hell was being sent his way? With a small smile, the Celestial looked back to Clint. The archer winced, unable to pull himself together as of yet. "Ah, time for more father and son bonding."

"Fuck you," Clint shouted when Ego opened the door in an attempt to see if someone could hear him. Maybe Quill was right outside the door. Or Gamora. Someone that could help him. But as Ego walked away without a respond, the archer could see nothing. He hung his head. Jesus, he'd rather have just been beaten and tortured than this. Send him back to the Trogziks. He'd take Arath's questions over the idea of Ego making him use magic any day. Groaning, Clint looked to the things holding him to the wall. It wasn't actual cuffs or anything that he could easily escape from. It was some sort of energy thingy. Pulling against it just made the thing flash and hold him a bit tighter. But loosening himself didn't seem to make it that much looser. Just backed off enough so that it wasn't holding him painfully. "Damn it."

It was maybe a few hours or something before Ego reappeared. Clint tensed at the sight of the Celestial. This was not going to be a fun time right now. Ego looked determined to have this done. Clint pulled back, wanting so much to try and escape but he was stuck. The Celestial just smiled and came right into Clint's face. Apparently there wasn't going to be any more witty remarks.

"Lets get started," the alien stated before placing his hands on either side of Clint's head. Clint screamed as the Celestial's power invaded his mind. It could have been two hours or twenty seconds when Ego finally stopped and released Clint. The archer's head dropped onto his chest, his body sagging against his restraints as the muscles lost the ability to hold him up. Yeah, physical torture was totally better than this. He just wanted to go home. He wanted Loki to save him. Wanted this to simply be a nightmare. Ego chuckled. "Now, why not cast a spell?"

"Go, fuck yourself," Clint gasped, trying hard to focus on what was happening. Ego snorted, his eyes narrowing before placing his hands on Clint's head again. Clint screamed and after some time, there was something like a wall that just dropped in Clint. His screaming grew worse as whatever had been behind that wall tried to fight Ego's power. When that started happening, Ego laughed and released Clint. Clint's mind shut down as his body tried to adjust to the sudden release. A few seconds later, Clint was able to think a bit. "What... Did... You... Do?"

"I released your magic," Ego answered, pleased with what happened and feeling how truly powerful the archer was. Clint sobbed, feeling like an upset child. But he couldn't help it. This... This was worse than any torture he had gone through. Worse than any battle. Any injury. Ego nearly frowned at this.

"No... Put it back," Clint begged, looking up at Ego desperately. There had to be a way to fix this. Have his magic resealed. He couldn't live with this. It was unfair. Ego tilted his head in confusion.

"I assumed you would be thankful for this," Ego chuckled before moving forward and patting Clint's cheek. Clint shook his head, humiliating tears began falling even faster. God, he didn't even care anymore. He'd do basically anything to have his magic locked up again.

"No... No, I didn't want this," Clint sobbed. "I don't want magic!"

"Hmm," Ego hummed before placing his hands on Clint's chest. There was what seemed to be some sort of draining. Clint gasped, almost glad that Ego seemed to be taking his magic, but suddenly, the archer's magic attacked Ego, switching the draw so Clint was taking the Celestial's power instead. Ego quickly let go of Clint in surprise. "What are you?"

"A human," Clint groaned, noting Ego's fear for only a moment before he dropped unconscious, no longer able to withstand what was going on around him.

* * *

**Hope everyone enjoyed the post from earlier this week.**

**My house is still a mess from Christmas. Had gotten all the wrapping paper and most of the boxes of things cleaned up but there is just so much stuff! Maybe I went a bit overboard with shopping. Whoops. Well, Darius certainly enjoyed it. Still got some of his gifts out in the car cause I'm a bit too lazy to get it all right now. Sides, I need to clean up the mess that was left over from Christmas. Gotta find some places for a lot of the toys that he doesn't seem to be playing with like some stuffed animals. And also gotta clean up the rest in general. So much work! _ Baby Jason got a bunch of gifts as well. Certainly not as much as Darius had gotten but a good amount. He's currently laying in a small ball pit thing that has different growing stages. I think most of what he had gotten was clothing. I think one of the best gifts that Darius ended up getting was the gift my father made for him. It's a wooden Jeep Wrangler. He liked playing with it at my brother's house and I enjoyed looking at it. The best gift my hubby seemed to enjoy was a Bray Wyatt Severed Head Lantern. Mike really seemed to enjoy both a San Diego Comic Con exclusive box of Ghostbuster figures and a book from Transformers. Janice really liked the coat from WWE with 'I Am The Man' written on it. As for me... Jesus, I don't know what the best gift was... I got two different Etsy made Hawkeye stuffed animals. Two different Hawkeye figures, two Disney books, tickets for events happening during my trip to Disney in February and a pillow/blanket Mickey Mouse gift where the pillow has like a felt and nice and soft feeling too it.**

**See you all next Friday!**


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 - Repercussions

"Clint, Clint, you have to wake up," a voice called. Clint groaned. A hand was pressed to his cheek. He jerked away from it, opening his eyes in fear. It took a moment before he realized it was Loki. Clint sobbed in relief. "What did he do to you?"

"Magic," Clint whispered, noting that at some point he had fallen to the floor. Loki frowned before placing a hand on Clint's chest. He concentrated and as Clint whimpered, Loki noted his own magic was getting partially drained. His eyes snapped open.

"By the Norns! Clint," Loki cried in surprise. Clint moaned, having felt Loki's magic shifting into him. It was a horrible feeling. One that Clint really never wanted to repeat. It was almost like someone forcing you to eat while you're full. "Lets... Lets get you out of here."

There was a flash of green power that had both Loki and Clint crying out. But Loki got them to where he wanted. As tough as it had been, Loki was pleased that he had gotten them to the ship safely. Who knows where they could have ended up if Clint drained any more from his spell. The trickster fell to his knees, tired from having to fight Clint's magic. He hardly paid attention to Clint at this moment as he tried to regain his balance and center himself. The noise made Kraglin turn to look at the duo.

"Hey, you boys okay?" the Ravager asked. Loki glanced at Clint, who had fallen unconscious once again. Having that much magic released so quickly, Clint wasn't going to feel better for a few days. Never mind him having drained Loki's power. His body was trying to convert everything while settling into its proper place. There was a reason one didn't tend to open their magic without a stronger magic user around. In the perfect world, Clint would have done his first spell beside Stephen Strange or Loki. But, this wasn't the perfect world. In the meantime, Clint might pose a danger not only to himself but to those on the ship. That much magic was just sitting there, waiting for release. If it wasn't properly released soon, Clint would risk a blow back of epic proportions that risked the lives of anyone near. And that was even with Loki casting a shield spell to block most of the magic. Loki also doubted Clint would survive the blow back.

"We will be once we get back home," Loki snarled, anger surging at Ego and his own want to go back out there and beat the Celestial to death. Kraglin nodded before looking back out at the area around them. He muttered a curse or something but Loki wasn't paying attention anymore. Desperate, Loki grabbed the archer and headed off to a different area of the ship. He needed to keep Clint safe from everything right now. Including the archer himself. With Clint's magic now fully open, the archer was going to be able to drain any magic from any source faster than before. Hence why Loki's teleportation spell had hurt so much.

Loki stayed with Clint for so long that he didn't even notice anything around him. He guess that at some point they had defeated Ego. There was the sounds of a Ravager funeral that gave Loki a moments pause, but the trickster couldn't leave Clint. Kraglin came by to check on them once but didn't speak to them. Nebula did as well, ironically enough, and even stranger, she came with food. A full day passed before anyone else came to find the duo. And it was Rocket that found them.

"What the hell is this?" Rocket wondered, pointing to the scene before him as he tensed. Loki glanced back at the raccoon, knowing the tone was something akin to disappointment and revulsion.

"Ego... He... He woke something in Clint that he never wanted," Loki replied. Rocket looked down at the unconscious archer with a different air of curiosity.

"He... He uh, gonna be okay?" Rocket questioned, his tone more subdued and worried. Loki huffed, turning to look back at Clint. If it was anyone else that this happened too, Loki was certain they'd get through it fine. But this was Clint...

"I don't know."

"Well... Uh... We're gonna go get the Milano again and we... We can bring you back to Earth," Rocket muttered. Loki nodded glancing up at Rocket before focusing on Clint again. After a moment, Rocket sighed. "Okay... Uh... I'll tell the others."

Loki ignored the raccoon and just watched over Clint. The sudden influx of settling magic after just awakening the amount of power Clint had had to be extremely difficult to deal with. Loki wasn't all that surprised that Clint was unconscious. In fact, he was kinda glad for it. It meant that Clint wasn't suffering from the effects of what Ego did. But, it also meant less time for Loki to convince Clint to cast a spell and drain a bit of that magic. Leaving him unconscious was walking a fine line.

"Hey, Rocket said something happened to Clint," Quill called, coming into the room with Loki. Loki nodded. "Uh... I thought he was with you guys."

"When you left with Ego... He went to explore the area and then never came back. I'm assuming Ego kidnapped him and hid him from you and your friends," Loki answered. Quill frowned and came further into the room to sit by Clint as well.

"He... He uh, wasn't all that great with me either. Tried... Tried to use me as some sort of battery or something," Quill explained. Loki sighed, looking over to the guardian.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," the Lie-smith replied honestly actually feeling that way. Ego was so much more terrible than Loki realized. If one could go back and change everything, Loki would in a heartbeat. For both of the men's sake. Quill nodded.

"Yeah, it... It sucks but, what can ya do?" Quill tried to laugh it off. Loki shook his head.

"No. What happened with Ego should have never happened to anyone. He should have been dealt with long ago," Loki growled, cursing whoever he could that could have had knowledge of what Ego had done. One of the main people (considering Quill was human) was certainly Heimdall himself. Quill huffed.

"Yeah, well. Nova Corps isn't all that into protecting the galaxy," Quill stated. Loki shook his head with a disgusted laugh.

"Explains another reason why Clint wanted nothing to do with them."

"Yeah... For what it's worth... I am sorry for what happened," Quill told the trickster. Loki sighed. There was no way any of them could have predicted anything like this would have happened. And there was certainly no way to go back and change it now.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you as well."

"Thanks," Quill said before moving to get up but Clint suddenly moaned. Loki twitched, placing his hands to hover over parts of Clint's frame. Quill sat back down, confused.

"Clint," Loki called. There was another moan. Quill couldn't help his smirk at that. He totally would be doing the same thing if he was in Clint's place. "Clint, you need to wake up more."

"No," the archer grumbled, not even twitching. Loki sighed, relief flooding through him. He had almost feared that the amount of magic Clint possessed would have killed him with the way Ego released it. Hearing the archer now, Loki could tell Clint was getting at least a little bit better.

"We need to talk," Loki insisted. Clint shifted, turning now to face Loki and Quill. "I'm sorry."

"Can you fix it? Put it back?" Clint asked, his voice sad and pained. Quill frowned, looking between the duo. Loki shook his head.

"What Ego did cannot be fixed. I can only help you learn how to control it," Loki softly said. Clint whined, closing his eyes. That was not what he wanted to hear. A moment later, Loki and Quill realized Clint had fallen asleep.

"He gonna be okay?" Quill wondered. Loki sighed deeply.

"Physically, yes. Mentally... No," Loki admitted. "Ego did irreparable damage."

"What? You keep skirting around what exactly he did," Quill pushed.

"All beings have the ability to use magic. Some, have a higher chance of actually being able to cast a spell, while most just go along not knowing. Clint... Clint had gotten to a higher level of magic than many humans had gotten without it being trained. And... Clint didn't want it," Loki started. Quill frowned.

"How can one not want magic?"

"When one only sees the evil of magic," Loki retorted. Quill sighed, looking back down at Clint. Loki looked to Quill. "If you had only seen Ego's abilities that shaped and destroyed worlds, would you have willingly tried to learn it? Even if you'd be stronger than him?"

"I... I guess I wouldn't have," Quill answered, his mind seriously focusing on the question. He could see Loki's and Clint's point. There was no way he'd have helped Ego if he'd known what was going to happen.

"Clint hates magic. He doesn't mind magic users such as myself, but he hates it done near him, to him and to those around him. I stayed at his home for nearly a year and no matter how often I used magic in front of him, I couldn't convince him that he should try and learn," Loki added. "Clint's magic also has a unique property. If any magic was done to him, his magic absorbs it and increases. Now that Clint's magic is awakened, he... He has less of a chance of holding it back. Teleporting him off the planet and to the ship was difficult as his magic tried to stop the spell by stealing it."

"So... He's gonna get stronger?"

"Not by choice. He needs to work with his magic before I can even attempt to have him learn to stop the absorption."

"And... You can't lock it away again?"

"No. Once open, it cannot be undone. Clint is now a magic user, whether he wants it or not," Loki grumbled.

* * *

It took nearly a day or two before Clint felt well enough to leave the room Loki had brought him to. The guardians were nice enough to give him space considering it was partly their fault for what happened to him. If they hadn't taken the job and gotten Nebula, they wouldn't have been in danger for Ego to come save them. Surprisingly enough, Clint didn't blame any of them for what happened to him. He just... Floated through the ship until they finally arrived back at the Milano. Loki tried to speak with the archer a few times, but Clint either walked away or acted like he couldn't hear the trickster.

With Kraglin's help, the Milano was finished being fixed in only a few hours. And off the group went, leaving Kraglin to rebuild this Ravager fleet back to Yondu's vision. Clint hid himself away in the bunk after the Milano left the planet. The ship was tense as they realized how this was going to go.

"We're gonna head right back to Earth, right?" Gamora once again confirmed, this time seriously determined to not allow any more distractions. Quill nodded his head. They couldn't mess up like this again.

"It's gonna take us about a month and... We have to stop at least once though," Rocket pointed out. Everyone turned to glare at him. Rocket sighed. "We're gonna quickly run out of supplies."

"Knowhere is on the way," Quill suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea with Clint," Gamora argued. "Lots of people would love to get at him."

"Knowhere will be fine, as long as Clint doesn't leave the Milano. And I doubt he'd be willing to," Loki soothed, glancing down the hall that Clint was sulking down. "We need to get him back to Earth. His friends there will help him through what Ego has done."

"Okay. We'll be at Knowhere in a week or so," Quill announced. Loki nodded and turned to go down the hall and check on Clint. The door to Clint's bunk hadn't been shut, even though the archer had hid himself inside. It gave Loki some hope that Clint was just trying to sort things out in his head but was still willing contact. But, Loki doubted he was the contact that the archer wanted. Clint was sitting on the bunk, his legs gripped tightly by his arms and pulled into his chest. His head laid on his knees. Sighing, Loki knocked on the door.

"Clint?" he called. There was no response from the archer, just like on Kraglin's ship. Slowly, Loki moved closer to Clint, sitting on the bed in front of the archer. "Clint, we need to discuss this."

"Go away," Clint stubbornly told the trickster. It's been the only two words anyone had gotten from Clint since they arrived on the Milano. Which was better than the absolute silence Clint had gone through on the Ravager ship. Gamora and Quill had suggested Mantis check on Clint but Loki refused to attempt it. If Mantis's ability was anything like magic, Clint would absorb it. He also assumed it was Mantis who helped Ego take the archer in the first place.

"Clint, you know I can't do that. You can't push me away," Loki muttered.

"Go away."

"Clint, this is pointless and dangerous."

"Go away."

"Are you trying to threaten all of our lives?" Loki snapped sick and tired of Clint trying to brush all of this off. Clint looked up at that in surprise. "You are a brand new powerful magic user who has never gotten any sort of training. It won't be much longer before the magic tries to find an outlet. And it will."

"I... I don't want to learn," Clint sobbed. His eyes clearly showed that he just wanted to roll over and die. If given half the chance, Clint would likely have stepped off the ship to go into space and kill himself. Loki sighed, placing a hand on the archer's knee. He was going about this the wrong way. But he needed Clint to understand the real danger here.

"I know. And I'm sorry. But there is nothing else we can do. You need to learn at least one spell to hold back any magical build up that will start to happen," Loki mentioned, his voice much softer and kinder. Clint winced, turning his head to look at the wall. "I won't make you do anything big, or evil, or dangerous. Just something small."

"I can't," Clint croaked. Loki let out a deep breath, trying not to get annoyed with the archer again. Being angry or harsh with the archer wasn't going to solve any of this.

"How about this? That bow that I gave you," Loki started. Clint jerked to look at him surprised. None of them had thought to look for his bow after the guardians had gotten their own weapons back from the Nova Corps search. And honestly, Clint hadn't even really thought about it until now. "Yes, you still have it and could have called upon it even without your magic... Magic breaking free."

"What do you mean?" Clint whispered. Loki sighed.

"Flick either wrist out and imagine the bow returning to your hand," Loki said. Clint frowned but shot his right arm out into the room and a second later, the bow Loki had given him before appeared. Shocked, Clint stared at it, pulling it closer to actually examine it. "Now, last time, I gave you a quiver that never emptied. But, I can teach you a spell that will make the needed arrows appear as you draw back."

"What?" Clint asked, looking back to Loki. Loki was surprised to see Clint's hopeful expression. But then he thought about what he was offering the archer. Of course Clint would love to do anything that revolved around his bow.

"I'm saying, that with the right magic spell, you can create your own infinite collection of arrows that you'd never have to carry," Loki described seemingly leading the fly into the honey trap. But, Loki could only pray that this was a honey trap that Clint would be okay with. Clint furrowed his brow, looking down at the bow. That... That actually sounded interesting. "Are you willing to learn at least that? You train often enough that that spell will prevent any magic build up."

"I-"

"If you say 'can't' then I'm going to throw you off this ship, your family be damned," Loki hissed unable to hold in his anger any more. Clint winced. He knew that Loki meant that too. Sighing, Clint shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed like Loki.

"How dangerous is this spell if I mess it up?" Clint wondered. Loki exhaled a breath of relief.

"There will only be a minor back lash of sore muscles and likely a head ache," Loki informed. And that was true. This spell was safe in backlash but... It was at a higher level than new users were ready for. Clint should honestly be working on illusion magics, or levitation spells. Simple trick like magic. But Loki knew the archer would never go for that. Clint sighed, looking back down to the bow.

"Okay."

* * *

**Happy New Year! I totally had mentally planned on releasing this chapter on the 1st... But I stayed up till four cause I couldn't sleep and basically couldn't think. But, you at least get it today!**

**Darius is doing great. Having extreme fun playing with all his toys. Also still trying to clean up boxes and stuff from Christmas. Ugh, there is just so much! I'm finally able to get him on the potty and actually having him do something. Only problem... He does it during our nap time and seemingly waits till I get comfortable before saying he has to go. It's so upsetting! But I can't deny him the ability to go just cause I don't want to get up. Today I tried having hubby take him to the bathroom before going to nap with me. They said he went. They were wrong... Like five minutes into laying down... 'Mommy, I have to go potty.' ARGH! But, hey. He's doing it so can't fully complain. Baby Jason is doing good as well. Being a bit of a punk in the morning. His parents are giving him four ounces of baby food and when Baby Jason finishes it, he cries until he gets four ounces of formula! And sometimes, he cries after the formula! So, I suggested giving him the one ounce of water that his doc had told them to start giving him. Seems to be working so far.**

**And, well... That's it! See you next Friday!**


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 - Magic

"I don't think I can do this," Clint huffed, sweat leaking all over his brow. Rocket, Quill, Drax and Mantis (who Clint had a real big issue with once he realized she was with them) stood off to the side, watching. Loki had easily casted a spell on a vacant hallway to give it further depth and just before an arrow would strike the wall, it would hit a force field that held them still. Rocket and Quill thought the whole thing was cool and before Loki could stop him, Rocket tried the thing out first. And, since Loki's spell wasn't set to stop blasters, there was now a blackened area behind the illusion.

"You need to keep trying. First spells are always difficult, and I'm not teaching you a simple one because you refuse to learn anything else," Loki snapped. Now that he finally got Clint to try working on a spell, Loki knew he could be harsher with the archer. Especially since Clint had been so keen on trying to learn this spell. Clint glared at him. "If you were more willing, I could lead you up to this spell and things would be much simpler."

"Fuck you," Clint growled before setting his stance up again. He muttered the words Loki had made him memorize and drew back. An arrow fluttered to existence, not solidifying like Loki said it should. Clint growled and the arrow seemed to change but as Clint went to fire, the arrow fizzled out. "Damn it."

"You are focusing too hard on creating it. Lets just have it appear and try to get it flying off the bow," Loki suggested. Clint snarled but got ready again. With his loss of concentration, he was forced to cast the spell again. And like before, an arrow appeared, fading in and out. Clint fired and it vanished after flying maybe a foot away.

"That got farther this time," Rocket helpfully commented. Clint turned and glared at him, not losing his concentration on the spell. Rocket just stared back. "I ain't threatened of you till ya do it right."

"Rocket," Quill snapped. Rocket crossed his arms and just shrugged. Huffing, Clint turned back and tried again. This time, the arrow seemed more solid than any other attempt. Clint fired and the arrow actually stayed in existence until it hit halfway down Loki's makeshift range. The amount of power casted finally took its toll on Clint and he dropped to his knees. Loki moved to check on the archer. Unlike with Wanda, he wasn't going to make Clint find his limit. This spell, if Clint could focus on it long enough, would last an entire day with little magical input. All Clint needed to do after the initial spell work itself, was concentrate.

"He okay?" Mantis wondered. Clint growled, punching his fist onto the floor.

"Clint, we should stop for the day," Loki said, knowing that if Clint tried any more, the archer be getting far too close to his limit than the trickster liked. Clint snarled, getting back to his feet. Without thinking about it, Clint snapped out the spell and fired before anyone could see if an arrow appeared. Clint did it again six more times before falling to his knees once more unable to hold himself up. This was worse than the battle with the Trogziks. No, this was worse than when Ego first attacked him.

"He did it," Quill called, awed. Loki jerked his head up, looking to the wall. And indeed, seven absolutely real arrows were hovering at the area Loki had marked center of the target. Clint groaned and shifted so that he fell against Loki. The Lie-smith caught the archer, holding him steady. With a quick scan, Loki realized Clint was farther too his limit than he had first thought. With the power Clint held, Loki feared the archer may never wake if he went over his limit. The trickster casted a protection spell on Clint and held it as long as he could until Clint looked up at him. With a sigh, he released the spell.

"What was that?" Rocket questioned, pointing between the duo. Loki said nothing, just helped Clint back up to his feet.

"Is... Is there a way to get rid of them after?" Clint inquired, looking down the hall to the arrows. Loki sighed.

"Yes, but you need rest and at least five more successful attempts before I even think of teaching you that," Loki muttered, dropping his own spells. The arrows clattered to the ground.

"He produced them from the air?" Drax probed. Rocket and Quill looked at him like he was asking if they all needed to breathe.

* * *

Loki trained Clint nearly every hour (outside of resting and sleeping) until they arrived on Knowhere. Once there, Loki said it was too dangerous for either of them to use any magic. Too many aliens that arrived here knew of magic and or ate magical users. It wouldn't be safe. Gamora offered to stay behind with the duo and the ship as the others went out and got supplies. Groot, rapidly hitting some sort of teenage phase, was hiding out in his room. He had found a small gaming system on a holo device and hadn't put it down since.

"When we get to Earth, I'd like to teach you how to imagine different types of your arrows so that you aren't limited," Loki informed as the trio relaxed in the dining area.

"Sounds interesting. Do I have to use another spell to do it or-" Clint started.

"It is mostly concentration while working the original spell but it is easier with a secondary spell. The more we work on the spell, the more you'll be able to do with it," Loki explained.

"How does that work? I mean, I thought spells were literal in their purpose," Gamora wondered.

"Many spells are. But there can be some variations done to certain spells. An example being the spell I am teaching Clint. There is also one that I particularly enjoy that creates an illusion. I typically use that to 'copy' myself but as it's an illusion, I can think of whatever I want," Loki answered.

"So, it's more thought process with it?" Gamora asked. Loki nodded.

"Many spells are not just words and waving of hands. They require the caster to really think about what they are doing and how best to do it. As one practices spells more often, the easier it is to do. It can almost be like second nature," Loki continued.

"Now, I notice that when Clint seems to be getting tired, you cast a spell on him. Is that something all casters do?" Gamora inquired.

"No. My magic... It absorbs the magic casted on me. So, he's like... Refilling my battery," Clint awkwardly described.

"Is it possible for one to hold onto a spell like these without it breaking?" Gamora added.

"It's the concentration to do such a spell that keeps it going. When I cast protections spells on my friends, I need to either cast it twice to make it stick around for a longer period of time, or focus for the entire time I want it to work," Loki replied. Gamora hummed. Before anyone could ask any more questions, there was a noise, like a scuffle, happening at the back of the ship. All three of them shot to their feet and headed back there to check it out.

Indeed there was a scuffle. Two aliens were duking it out right outside their bay doors. Quill, Drax, Rocket and Mantis weren't anywhere nearby. Gamora growled at the duo fighting but didn't move to break it up. Loki and Clint followed her lead, outside of the growling. As they focused on the battle, looking deeply at the ship from the other side, a blue alien focused on Clint. After a moment, the alien moved forward and tapped something onto the back end of the Milano.

_ "Cosmo no like when people fight on world,"_ a Russian sounding voice called through the groups head. The two aliens jumped apart from each other, glaring. From around the corner, a yellow lab in a space suit walked toward them. Clint nearly squealed at the fact that there was a dog here. He tried to run to him but Loki held him back. This was one of the dangers that Loki had feared. It wasn't all that bad in the long run, but a part that Loki had no wish for Clint to have gotten involved in it all. If this dog knew of Clint's potential, the dog had many contacts with magical collectors that at this stage Clint would be unable to stop. _"Cosmo wish peace."_

"We apologize for our friend and will take our leave," an alien from the crowd answered, grabbing one of the combatants and pulling him away. The other alien huffed but walked away as well. Nodding his head in satisfaction, 'Cosmo' then looked straight up at Clint as if the archer had called out to him. The archer stiffened, surprise. Seeing his gaze, Gamora and Loki both shifted to stand in front of Clint, trying to subtly block Cosmo's view. A onlooker from the now ended battle followed Cosmo's gaze to the ship. The alien focused hard on the group but did nothing.

"_Cosmo sense you are not near here,_" The dog commented, coming toward the ship. Gamora moved forward in an attempt to block Cosmo from getting too close. Clint felt a chill run down his spine. This wasn't good. Cosmo was giving Clint the same sense of nerves and fear as he felt when Loki first came through the Tesseract nearly seven years prior.

"We have only come here to restock our supplies and then we will be on our way. Our friends are already getting the things we need," Gamora implored. Cosmo glanced to her quickly before focusing on Clint again. Clint glanced at Loki instead. But the trickster was warily watching the dog. Best to not antagonize Cosmo unless needed.

"_Cosmo sense change in you,_" the dog continued. Clint frowned and shifted to get away. He was not going to get trapped in another Ego situation. Loki grabbed the archer's arm and pulled him closer. This was not going well at all and Loki doubted that they be able to escape this situation without making it far worse. "_No need worry. Cosmo mean no harm."_

"Excuse me for having a disbelieving air to that. Haven't been having much luck out here," Clint replied. Loki hissed, squeezing Clint's arm a bit harder. Really not good to snark the dog that could sense their magic without them even using any of it. A laugh echoed through their heads.

"_Cosmo like you. Cosmo wish to show around,_" the dog called before spinning and walking away. Clint frowned and moved to step away again when suddenly, he and Loki were pushed from behind. They were slowly forced out of the ship and had to follow Cosmo as the dog walked off. Gamora let out a cuss and followed quickly after as Cosmo led the duo through Knowhere. She looked around, seeing many aliens stopping what they were doing to watch. It was always interesting to see who Cosmo was speaking too. As they left the ship and drew attention elsewhere, the alien from before moved forward and placed a small machine onto the back of the _Milano._ Once it was set, the alien smiled and walked away.

"Cosmo, please. We are nearly ready to go," Gamora repeated. Cosmo ignored her and began listing the sights that they passed as he forced Loki and Clint to follow. Clint was smart enough to simply relax into Cosmo's path where as Loki stiffened himself and thought of how to escape without calling attention to himself. They were led around until Cosmo brought them into a building and shut the door behind them, releasing the pressure on Loki and Clint. Clint backed away from the dog, for once in his life afraid the normally adorable creature.

"_Cosmo tell you Earth child,_" Cosmo stated, looking straight at Clint. Clint said nothing. Was this seriously all the damn dog wanted? "_Cosmo see you no want space travel. Want home. Family._"

"I was sent here by mistake and have been trying to get home," Clint admitted, praying that answering would get him away faster. Behind him Gamora hissed. Apparently that wasn't the right thing to say. Cosmo nodded.

"_Cosmo help._"

"What?" Loki and Gamora echoed.

"_Cosmo help hawk go home,"_ the dog reiterated and Clint couldn't help but shiver at the idea that Cosmo knew about his code name. Everything about this was bad. There was no way in hell he'd trust this dog.

"I'm sorry, I... I can't. The guardians have been taking me home. I'm fine traveling with them," Clint said, really not liking Cosmo's extreme interest in him and helping him. Cosmo moved forward, ignoring Loki and Gamora who shifted to try, once again, to block the dog from getting close to Clint. It didn't work as Cosmo used the same force as before to push them back. Clint shifted, uncomfortable. What would be the best way to get out of here?

"_How that go? You now something you no wish to be,_" Cosmo countered. Clint winced. That was true but... Like Nova Corps, Cosmo just didn't seem safe. "_Cosmo help._"

"I'm fine," Clint repeated. Cosmo's eyes narrowed, a very strange look on a dog. After a moment, Cosmo huffed.

"_Cosmo believe. Hawk safe with friends,"_ the dog announced as if all this had been a random test to see if Clint was loyal. Clint didn't trust it. And it seemed neither did Loki or Gamora.

"So can we return to our ship?" Gamora wondered. Cosmo nodded. "Thank you."

She turned and headed to the door. After a brief hesitation, Loki turned and headed to the door as well. Clint twisted to go as well but was stopped by something. He glanced back at the dog and frowned. Neither Gamora or Loki noticed Clint wasn't coming until they were out the door. Once they were out, Loki turned and was about to cry out when the door shut in his face.

"Look, I just want to go home," Clint stressed, trying to fight whatever Cosmo was doing. Cosmo moved closer to Clint and the archer tried his best to pull away. "Please."

"_Cosmo let you go home. Cosmo just want see,"_ the dog responded. Clint whimpered when Cosmo got close enough to touch Clint with his paws. Even in a space suit, Cosmo seemed so threatening. As the dog pressed his paws onto Clint, Clint felt his memories moving through his mind, faster than he could process them. Then, Cosmo let go. Something about all that apparently pleased the dog. But Clint was shaken. What the fuck was wrong with all these aliens? Maybe they had gotten lucky before that it was only Asgardians and Chitauri that they've had to deal with. "_Hawk go home."_

The door behind Clint opened and he stumbled out, bumping into Loki who easily caught the archer. He and Gamora looked very worried. Cosmo nodded to them and closed his door which made Loki glare at the dog. But he couldn't do anything now that the door was closed.

"What happened?" Gamora asked, placing a hand on Clint's shoulder. The archer jerked himself free as if her skin had burned him. Loki frowned even as Clint shook his head. The archer just wanted to get back to the ship. Gamora must have noticed how Clint felt as she simply nodded her head and started leading Clint to the ship. Loki took a moment to look back at the building Cosmo had 'hidden' himself in. Why were so many interested in Clint? What was it about the archer that drew all this attention to him? After a beat, Loki silently followed after the duo. The three of them got to the ship just as the others did. Quill frowned.

"What happened?" he wondered.

"Cosmo," was all Gamora said before they got onto the ship. Loki easily led Clint to his bunk and shut the door. Outside, the Lie-smith could hear the guardians putting things away and readying the Milano for the journey to Earth. He could only hope it worked out well this time as he doubted Clint would be able to handle being in space any longer.

* * *

Clint yet again refused to come out of his bunk for two days. But this time, neither did Loki. At first Quill and Rocket were concerned but Gamora wasn't all that surprised. The meeting they had with Cosmo was strange and unsettling. Even she felt a bit odd after all of that. Why did Cosmo care about them? What was the dog's interest in Clint? And why did it matter?

"Come, we should get back to training," Loki encouraged on the second day. It wasn't necessary at this point as Clint had broken the magic build up from before and he currently had a good while before the build up happened again. But, training more never hurt. If Clint could learn this one spell, he had a better chance of standing against any danger from an enemy of a magic user. Clint snorted but stood and followed Loki out into the hall. Neither of them spoke to the guardians as they set themselves up and started working on Clint's spell work. Rocket was the first to notice them.

"Ya know. It's be cooler if it was a blaster," the raccoon joked. Clint chuckled, glad for the return to 'normalcy' after everything that had happened. He had been told nearly a thousand times that it'd be cooler or easier to work with something other than a bow. And he'd always say the same thing.

"Not as pristine a hit as I'd like. And easily blocked by the right kind of armor," Clint retorted.

"Yondu used to use an arrow that responded to some sort of electric fin on his head. He'd just whistle and the thing would go insane," Rocket mentioned, lost in his brief thoughts of the Ravager.

"Yes well, we don't have need of that," Loki replied, smirking. Clint shrugged.

"Be kinda cool, but then it wouldn't really be you aiming. Kinda takes the point of it out," Clint commented. Rocket laughed. He had originally thought the same thing, that didn't mean it wasn't cool to look at.

"Ah, I like you guys," the raccoon declared. Clint ignored him and began rapid firing his bow with numerous arrows. Loki waited till Clint was deep into it before suddenly shoving the archer. Clint barely faltered in both his aim and the spell. Loki smirked then adjusted his spell of the 'range' so that now it showed thousands of warriors running at Clint. Clint gritted his teeth but kept going, trying not to be phased at all by what Loki was doing. Chuckling now, Loki made it seem like the warriors were firing back at Clint. The archer dodged, but kept his spell going. "WHOA!"

Loki glanced back and noticed that some of the 'gun' fire was headed toward Rocket as well as Clint. He chuckled again and then focused the spell to only go for Clint. Clint continued like this for nearly an hour. Every now and then, Loki would change up his spell to make it harder for Clint to concentrate. The best was when he added in images of the Avengers and he was suddenly above a building. At first the archer faltered but even so, he never lost the spell.

"Is that your team?" Quill wondered as he rounded the corner to see the illusion that Loki had conjured. Clint paused. His team? Then he actually seriously focused on what Loki had done. It had been the image of being on a building that had thrown Clint, not the addition of the Avengers. Yeah, he had actually noticed that he had people to protect but for some reason his mind hadn't caught on to it being the other Avengers. Clint smiled lightly before sighing. Looking at Loki with a nod, Clint turned to look at Quill. Loki sighed and drew the images of the Avengers closer.

"Iron Man, aka Tony Stark," Clint started with. Loki made sure the armor stepped forward and then the armor dissolved into Tony Stark. Clint moved on and as he did, Loki shifted the illusion. "Captain America, aka Steve Rogers. Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff. Hulk, aka Bruce Banner. And Thor, Loki's brother."

"Huh," Quill replied, staring at the images. Rocket huffed, his gaze scanning each image and then comparing it to Clint as if the archer wasn't worth anyone's time. Ignoring it, Clint then looked to Loki. This wasn't his full team.

"There have been a few new additions," Clint mentioned. Loki frowned before realizing who Clint was talking about. Who else had been added to the team? Then Loki remembered the amount of people at New Asgard. All of them must have been Avengers as well. He added the ones Clint mentioned. "Falcon, aka Sam Wilson. Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff. War Machine, aka James Rhodes. And Winter Solider, aka James 'Bucky' Barnes."

"That's a lot of people," Quill responded. Clint shrugged.

"There are a bunch more heroes out there... Daredevil, The X-Men, Spiderman, Dr. Strange-"

"I will get my vengeance on him," Loki whispered. Clint chuckled. He had learned about Loki's and Strange's little spat. Like everyone else, he thought it was hilarious.

"And all of them are on Earth?" Quill questioned. Clint nodded, seriously thinking about how many heroes there were. If one broke apart the teams and left it to one person defending an area...

"We have like at least one hero for every state and every country. Hell, maybe even every county," Clint replied. Quill shook his head.

"And here it's only us."

"Sorry. We... We haven't really mastered space travel," Clint admitted, a hand going to rub at the back of his neck. "Certainly nothing like this or anything. Just... Hard to describe what it is, but it can't travel farther than the Moon."

"Wow... That's gotta suck," Quill muttered. Clint shrugged.

"Guess it's a little give and take," Clint retorted. He turned back to the illusion. Without questioning it, Loki set it back up. To everyone's surprise (himself included), Clint didn't need to recast the spell. He just turned around and started shooting again.

"Okay. I might be ready to start teaching you how to make them disappear," Loki commented. Clint's beaming smile practically lit the hall.

* * *

**Another chapter down.**

**Darius is doing great. Currently annoying me because he wants me to do stuff I don't want to help him with at the moment. He just isn't listening to me saying no. But, he'll have to get used to that at some point. We've had some small issues with him, basically regarding sleep and last night bathroom issues. Overall though, he's great. Baby Jason is giving his parents a bit of a hard time at night but... That's what babies do.**

**Short note, but that's all I can really think of... Until next week!**


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 - Too Slow

The removal spell was much easier to learn than creating the arrows. Loki explained it was because Clint had learned to manipulate his magic and concentrate on the spell itself. There were many more spells that Loki wanted to teach Clint, but he needed to give the archer time. Magic use was a very complicated artwork of time and power. If Loki tried to rush Clint, there was a chance the archer would burn out. But if Loki went too slow, Clint may not want to learn more or his magic would stall out.

"So, you gonna teach him anything cooler than the arrow trick... Cause that's getting old," Rocket asked as Clint and Loki set about training again. Clint turned and growled at the raccoon.

"If you wanna see some more, learn magic yourself," the archer snarled. Loki sighed as Clint then decided he was done and just walked away. The trickster frowned, turning to Rocket.

"Thank you for giving him the two steps back," the Lie-smith muttered before turning and walking away. Rocket frowned.

"What? What did I say?"

* * *

Time passed by oddly for everyone after that. It was only supposed to be a week or so before they arrived at Earth but they just kept going. At first, no one seemed to notice. But as supplies once again dwindled, they all knew something was going on. They just didn't know what.

"Is it just me or do we seem to be either not going anywhere or trapped in some type of endless cycle?" Clint asked when checking over the food left in the kitchen. They had gotten now to some of the worse tasting (but extremely cheap) bits of food. Everyone was getting miserable.

"The charts say we're on track... But the jumps don't seem to be landing right," Quill replied, loading up one of the interfaces that sat on the kitchen table. Clint sighed, used to things like that from Tony. Gamora shifted closer to look at the chart as well while Loki rolled his eyes. "We seem to be delayed by at least another week at this speed."

"Well, what are we going to do about supplies? We are not going to last the next few days," Gamora pointed out even as Drax came in and grabbed a rather large helping of food. As he walked past Gamora, she stole some out of his arms. Thankfully, Drax either didn't care or was willing to share cause he just kept on walking. Clint glanced to Loki.

"Can't you magic us up some food?" he wondered. Loki shook his head.

"When I do things like that on Midgard and on Asgard, I am technically transporting the item from another place to where I want it to be. Out here, there really isn't anything close for me to latch onto," Loki described. Clint huffed.

"Unhelpful," Quill muttered but didn't seem all that angered with Loki, just upset about the situation.

"Are we near any safe planet?" Loki asked. Quill looked over the charts before wincing. "What?"

"Uh... Yeah, we can go to Xandar," Quill mumbled. "It's about a jump away."

"What's wrong with Xandar?" Clint questioned as Rocket jumped into the room and up on the table.

"What isn't wrong with Xandar is the better question," Rocket corrected.

"Nova Corps has their headquarters on Xandar," Gamora answered.

"And we want to avoid Nova Corps?" Clint continued, his own chill running up his back. The longer Loki and he had stayed out here with the guardians, the more they learned how little the Corps actually did and why many disliked the group. Gamora, Quill and Rocket nodded. It had been explained once or twice that Nova Corps had an agreement with various different groups. Themselves included.

"We may have a somewhat rocky truce with them. We generally stay out of their hair and they stay out of ours. Going to Xandar, even for supplies can potentiality lead to some issues," Rocket replied. "Unless we have a criminal on board and we wish to trade."

"Or you need help," Loki mumbled under his breath. Thankfully only Clint heard and the archer made no move to respond to it.

"Issues or they're better at catching you stealing?" Clint retorted but not arguing the fact that going to Xandar wasn't going to be nice for any of them. Rocket looked to Clint in surprise.

"What?" the raccoon wondered as innocent as can be. Clint crossed his arms and leveled a look at Rocket that dared the raccoon to try and argue with him. One of the reasons the archer was in this whole mess with magic was thanks to Rocket pissing off the Sovereign. And no one was gonna let that one die.

"He's got you pegged," Quill chuckled. Rocket frowned but said nothing in reply.

"If we go to Xandar, what if only Mantis, Clint and I go for supplies? I know enough about safe food items, pricing and items we may need for it not to bother us," Loki mentioned. Gamora shook her head.

"They aren't tracking us by seeing us in person. Every ship gives off a distinctly unique code that one can trace or track when nearby. And Nova Corps tends to track ours a lot around Xandar," Gamora stated.

"So, there isn't anywhere else we can go?" Clint inquired, moving to look at the chart even though he didn't understand what he was looking at.

"Not that we'd be able to reach before supplies ran out," Quill countered.

"How long would it take after supplies ran out?" Loki inquired. Quill glanced at Rocket who sometimes was a better judge on things like that.

"If we could go our normal speed to the next jump, we'd be at Xandar in maybe an hour or so. At this pace that we seem to be going, at least two days to get there. A day after we run out of food," Rocket informed. That didn't seem too bad but then again, it could get worse before it gets better. Best to maybe not risk chancing anything.

"Can we back track to a planet?" Clint tried.

"No. We are quite literally stuck with only Xandar in our reach," Gamora explained. Clint looked back to Loki.

"My magic can only extend so far. I believe we would be on Xandar's watch before we could get close enough for me to try anything," Loki said before Clint could even ask.

"What if you two combined magic?" Rocket asked. Loki glanced at Clint before shaking his head.

"No. Any other magic user would help me, but if Clint helped we'd be shortening our range," Loki answered. Clint winced, moving to stand by the wall nearing the exit to the bunks. It had only been within the past day or so that Loki had started teaching Clint how to stop his magic from collecting outside sources.

"Why?" Rocket muttered.

"Clint's magic will absorb anything I send out. Even if he tries to help," Loki described.

"What if Clint casts the spell and you provide the magic?" Quill suggested. Clint grimaced, looking away from the group.

"The spell needed is one that takes years to master. It's too complicated for Clint at this moment," Loki pointed out. Clint frowned but refused to comment. It wasn't like he was likely going to need whatever spell Loki was talking about. So, he wasn't sure he actually wanted to learn it... Complicated or not. And the fact that everyone keeps bringing up his magic wasn't sitting well with the archer. Thankfully Loki tended to control those situations.

"So, we're stuck going to Xandar and begging for them to give us supplies. Nice," Quill groaned.

"I'll adjust course," Rocket informed, jumping off the table to go to the cockpit even as he muttered about getting killed and no units to collect. After that, Clint and Loki headed to the hall they normally practiced in. Loki had just recently taken their range time into showing Clint how to adjust his arrows into ones he typically used in the field. Nearing an hour later, Rocket gave a call out through the ship's speakers.

"Guys, we're almost at Xandar," the raccoon called out his tone as surprised as everyone felt. Loki and Clint frowned. Hadn't they said it'd take two days? The whole group converged on the cockpit, except Groot who had taken to playing his video game in his room after Quill and Rocket had told him to get off it one too many times.

"Our speed increased?" Quill wondered, moving to sit in his normal seat.

"No. Guess whatever was holding us let go," Rocket countered.

"Could it be possible that something doesn't want us to go to Earth?" Gamora inquired, looking to Loki as if the trickster would have the answer.

"It is possible, but why? Why would they delay Clint and I from returning?" Loki replied seriously thinking about it. It made no sense, they had... "Gamora, does Thanos have reach to bother us here?"

"I... No, but his Black Order might," Gamora answered, turning to look at Loki.

"So, wait, you think Thanos is trying to stop us-" Clint started.

"No, me," Loki interrupted with a shake of his head. He was the one making this worse for the archer. Clint would need to have to travel on his own. "Thanos 'gifted' me the Mind Stone, or Scepter, with the promise of returning with the Tesseract, or Space Stone. If I failed..."

"You would be punished with a punishment far worse than death," Gamora finished, knowing the ways Thanos worked well. Loki nodded.

"Could Nova Corps actually help us?" Clint asked, his face twisted into a grimace. It was clear that no one wanted a thing to do with Nova Corps.

"Not if I go along. If I got off the ship on any planet, likely you would be able to return home," Loki explained. "Thanos will not allow me to go."

"So, what, Thanos is scared of Earth?" Quill inquired.

"No. He will eventually have to go to Earth. There are currently at least three stones from each set of Infinity Stones," Loki described not even really thinking about what he was giving away.

"Sets? There is only one, right?" Gamora argued.

"One would think that yes, but we have recently discovered that there is a secondary weaker set that was created to counteract the first set and confuse any potential collectors from getting the correct set," Loki informed.

"So, what stones are on that planet?" Rocket wondered.

"There are currently two Mind Stones, a Reality Stone, two Space Stones and one Time Stone," Loki answered before inwardly slapping his forehead. How could he have been so stupid? The Tesseract wasn't still on Earth. He was carrying the stone in his pocket dimension. Mentally cussing, Loki looked to the archer beside him. If Clint had not been attacked by Ego, the archer would have been safe enough to have traveled with the Tesseract. But, the way Clint was now. The archer was in even worse shape then when they were first sent to space. If the Tesseract was used on the archer, there was no telling if Clint would try and absorb that power. It was too big of a risk at this moment. Clint frowned at the list of stones that Loki had mentioned. He knew there were two Mind Stones, one with Vision and one now locked up with Tony. The Reality Stone was hidden in a secret location of Pietro's and Clint's own choice. A Space Stone was with Cooper and a Time Stone was with Dr. Strange. Wasn't the Tesseract with Thor? "We also know that one Soul Stone was left on Niflheim and I believe there was mention of it's copy on Vormir."

Gamora winced. "That's what I heard as well."

"Thor also gave a Reality Stone, called the Aether to Taneleer Tivan, on Knowhere," Loki added.

"We gave the Orb to Nova Corps. Ronin said it was the Power Stone," Quill stated. Loki frowned.

"That means we know of the pieces for one complete set if they match up. The remaining that we are missing is at least the Time Stone and Power Stone. And that's if the stones match. We could have the Power Stone from the weaker set but the Power Stone that goes with the stronger set is still out there," Loki summarized.

"Well, ain't that fine and dandy," Quill muttered.

"_Milano_, turn back now and excessive force will not be required," a voice came through on the cockpit speakers. The group jumped in surprise. No one realized they had gotten that close. Clint raised and eyebrow and glanced at Loki. 'Excessive force' the archer wondered. Loki sighed. This was not going well.

"Whoa, whoa. We are just coming for some supplies, we are running low and you are the closest planet we could reach," Quill replied, rushing to call up the image of who was speaking to them. A holoscreen popped up in front of them with an unknown face but dressed in the Nova Corps outfit.

"We require you to stop from coming closer," the officer retorted.

"We need supplies," Gamora called. The officer shook his head.

"You will not be getting them from here," the officer flat out stated. Loki leaned forward. Even if the Nova Corps had an issue with the guardians, there was no way they should be able to refuse support.

"We implore you as a traveler in space with little supplies to allow us to collect items enough to get us to another planet and then we shall be on our way," Loki tried. The officer hesitated at that. After a moment, the view screen vanished and the group tensed. Carefully, Loki casted a few protection spells all over the ship. It may not help but it was worth a shot. Clint glanced at the trickster quickly before trying his best to ignore it and not absorb any of the magic. While the spell hadn't been done personally on the archer, Clint did have a small chance of draining the spell. Loki shifted closer to Clint and softly muttered the way to ignore the magic. It took nearly five minutes before a familiar face popped up.

"Dey!" Quill happily called.

"Star-Prince," Dey replied in a way that made a chill run down Clint's spine. Quill frowned as Loki turned to look at the archer.

"Star-Lord," Quill muttered under his breath. Noting Loki's gaze, Clint just shook his head. He wasn't willing to talk about it right now.

"We have warned you not to come here without a bounty," Dey responded, ignoring Quill.

"I know, I know. But, we're in a bit of a bind. We just need a bit of food and water and then we'll be on our way to restock at a different planet," Quill informed.

"Quill, it's better if you just turn around. There is another planet within two jumps from here. You can deal with that," Dey stated. Quill winced making Dey's eyes narrow. "What aren't you telling me?"

"We've been having issues with traveling to our current destination. Our ship has been going at a much slower pace than we expected. And our jumps have not been landing correctly. We fear that traveling to the next planet may take longer than a few hours," Gamora implored. Dey frowned, looking down at something below the screen. Sighing, he looked back up.

"I'll escort you there. If your ship can't make it before supplies run out, I will rush ahead and transport supplies back to you," Dey suggested.

"We thank you for whatever help you can give," Loki answered before anyone could argue. Dey nodded before cutting out his feed. Thirty minutes later, a Nova Corps ship came from Xandar and headed to the _Milano_. As it started to pass, Rocket turned the ship to follow. Thankfully, the planet that everyone had been talking about was indeed on their way to Earth. At the first jump, Dey led the way but when the _Milano_ traveled through after, they landed without Dey on the other side.

"What just happened?" Clint questioned, looking at the area as if Dey would suddenly appear. Gamora sat down in her seat and started calling up some of her systems to try and send out a message to the Nova Corps officer.

"Where are we?" Quill grunted, pulling up his own systems.

"Looks like we back tracked four jumps. But how the flarg did we do that?" Rocket called.

"I do not believe the Black Order has the power to do this," Loki grumbled, looking to Gamora who simply frowned. She really didn't want to let him know that it was possible if Thanos was working with the right person. But, if it wasn't Thanos blocking them... Who could it be? A moment later, a ship appeared from the jump point behind them.

"What happened?" Dey cried as soon as their communications connected. "How did you back track like this?"

"We don't know," Quill retorted. Dey huffed. "Look, we need supplies."

"I'll jump back and get some things. Stay here," Dey ordered. Quill nodded. As soon as Dey vanished, Clint looked to the others.

"So... I guess this seriously isn't normal," he stated.

"The jumps are wormholes that are set to go from point A to point B. Somehow, when we go into point A, we are ending up in point C or something," Gamora mumbled pulling up the logs of their jumps. With it all laid out now, everyone could see. For every six jumps that they did to reach Earth, they'd suddenly hit back by anywhere from one jump to five jumps. And while they never did get off track. It was just they seemed to have lost time.

"That makes no sense," Clint hissed as Dey re-arrived, a larger ship following him.

"Let's get this supply run over," Dey ordered. Nodding, Quill, Gamora and Rocket all headed off to get the coupling area ready for the transfer.

"Well, this has been fun," Clint grumbled before turning back and heading to the what was now deemed the 'practice hall.' Loki had set up a 'training' experience that was meant to challenge Clint's ability to quickly create arrows and to try and use a multitude of arrows he'd normally get in an Avenger's battle. He was maybe a half hour into it when Mantis came up to him.

"You are practicing?" Mantis wondered. Clint nodded, not even letting her phase him even though he was still uncomfortable in her presence. Mantis tilted her head and watched Clint for a little while. Slowly, she began to get bored so she turned to look at Clint. He was deep in concentration and hardly seemed to notice her anymore. With a curious look, Mantis lifted her hand and moved to place it on Clint's skin. That must have sent off warning bells in Clint's mind because a second before she made contact, Clint leaped away from her.

"Don't," he snapped. Mantis frowned.

"I was merely curious," Mantis apologized. Clint shook his head.

"Either way, just don't," he hissed before turning and walking off. Mantis tilted her head in curious before wondering if she should follow. In the end, she decided to walk away.

* * *

With the new supplies packed away, the _Milano_ restarted it's journey to Earth. And like before, the jumps were consistently being messed with. In an attempt to counteract it, Gamora plotted a course that would zig zag them across space but still draw them closer to Earth. For a while it worked but, if they ever passed over a jump that they'd need to hit Earth, they'd be knocked off course.

"This is ridiculous, just return me to Xandar," Loki hissed. It had taken them nearly two weeks before they re-arrived back in the Xandar zone. This time, Nova Corps didn't give them any issues. In fact, they were just as curious and confused as the guardians but were less willing to help. Even Dey gave them an issue, saying they should just stop at every jump to get supplies.

"No. I'm not gonna leave you out here," Clint growled. Loki nearly opened his mouth to mention the Tesseract in his possession but then stopped. Clint wouldn't be able to handle the force needed to travel to Earth. "We'll figure something out."

"Not sure how we can plan for this if time keeps happening," Rocket muttered under his breath. Clint turned and glared at him. Rocket sighed. "Look, I ain't trying to dispute you on this but. If we keep getting delayed, we may be planet hopping rather than jumping and that's if we don't get slowed down even more by doin' that."

"What if we change our destination to Niflheim, or one of the other Nine Realms? That way it isn't Earth but we have ways to get back?" Clint suggested, looking to Loki for help. Loki looked at the map and sighed. He reached forward to point to various areas on the map.

"Alfheim, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Muspelheim, Nidavellir, Niflheim," Loki said, pointing to various places around the map. Right in the middle was what Clint could figured to be Earth's solar system. Damn, they were a far ways away. "All of them are too close to Midgard for Thanos, or whoever, not to see what we are doing, some even further away than Midgard. It is too close."

"Okay..." Clint grumbled.

"If we keep going this pace, we ain't gonna make it in general. We don't have unlimited funds to just keep getting supplies," Rocket pointed out. Clint frowned before sharply looking at Loki and then back to the guardians.

"Bring us back to Knowhere," he said. The group turned to him stunned. "Cosmo... He mentioned he could get us home."

"Correction, he said he could get _you_ home," Loki stated. Clint winced. "But, it would be a better course of action to return there. We know about how long that should take and I doubt Thanos would slow us down."

"We can try it," Gamora responded, looking to Quill and Rocket. "I don't see how it could get worse than this. We already noticed that when we headed to Xandar that the slowing of the ship stopped. If Thanos thinks we've given up, he should allow us free journey."

"And if that don't work, we'll ditch the problem," Rocket added, glancing over to Loki as he said so. Clint sighed deeply, not wanting to argue that point anymore. He really didn't want to leave Loki on any planet and he'd fight anyone who actually tried it. It was unfair to the trickster. Loki had been abandoned enough in his life and Clint knew exactly how that felt. With their choice made, the guardians turned the _Milano_ around and headed off to Knowhere. It should only take them about a day and a half.

* * *

**Yeah, I know. I missed yesterday. Sorry. Got a bit down in the dumps so I didn't do much of anything.**

**Darius has been doing well. This week has been a tough week for us. Hubby had a lot of late night shifts which none of us are used to. Because of that, I was the one who had to put Darius to bed. One night, he spelt with me in my bed. NEVER AGAIN! I woke up so tired and sore that no matter how much the poor kiddo cries, I ain't doing it unless there is a bigger bed and hubby is on the other side. Meaning, a King sized bed rather than the Queen we have now. So, I've had to promise Darius that 'Daddy will come join you when he gets back.' And hubby has been great in doing that for me. Story time has become fun. Out of all the normal stories that hubby reads to Darius, Darius tends to pick the longest one for me. And not just the longest one... It's one where I have to sing songs... Thank goodness I don't mind doing that. Baby Jason seems to be okay. Haven't seen much of him this week as his parents have either been in their room or out of the house. When I do see him, he usually is upset cause he wants a bottle or is happy and smiling and playing or getting packed up in his car seat to leave.**


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 - Stopping and Planning

Two days after the expected arrival and they still hadn't actually made it to Knowhere. Again, a scan of their jumps found that they were getting jumped into wrong areas. It wasn't as bad as before, but it was still bad enough that they wouldn't make it there any time soon. Frustrated, Quill and Rocket decided they were going to stop at the next inhabited planet to figure out what to do. The planet was called Sorin and like most of the other more popular places, various species roamed around the area. After once again stocking up on supplies, the group converged in the 'dining room' to discuss what to do next.

"We can't keep going to Earth or to Knowhere. We keep getting blocked," Quill needlessly pointed out.

"Planet hopping ain't working neither. We'd likely be dead before we get anywhere close," Rocket added. "And that's if we had enough units to buy supplies for that long."

"Okay, so what? We give up?" Clint wondered. Quill sighed.

"I don't know," the guardian muttered. "We promised to get you guys home but... Whoever is doing this, be it Thanos or someone else, they really don't want you going back."

"It's mostly just me he doesn't want to go," Loki mentioned, staring at Clint. The archer shook his head.

"I told you before, I am not leaving you here," Clint stubbornly told everyone.

"Well, we might have to ditch you both then," Rocket retorted.

"Rocket!" Quill and Gamora snapped. Rocket shrugged, unconcerned with their disgrace of him.

"You're right. We can't just leave you to Thanos if he is looking for you. No matter what planet we leave you on, the life there will be at serious risk," Gamora mentioned. "And not all have so many warriors that could help fight him off."

"What about dropping them back with Dey?" Quill wondered.

"No," Clint muttered.

"What is your issue with him?" Quill finally asked. While the guardians had issues with Nova Corps, they were at least willing to work with them. But Clint adamantly refused to travel with a single officer on the same ship. Clint sighed. There was no way to really describe it. Yeah, he mentioned that the officer kinda reminded him of his dad but it wasn't just Dey.

"I... They feel wrong. Nasty," Clint tried to explain.

"What, like bad food?" Rocket countered. Clint sighed.

"It's more like... When you look down a long dark hallway while hearing noises of some strange creature. That feeling you get when you know it's the only way out but you don't know what's waiting for you on the other side," Clint tried. Quill shivered.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be near Nova Corps if that's what they feel like," Quill replied.

"Yet you both tend to run into danger head first," Gamora mumbled.

"No one ever said humans were smart," Loki said. Clint and Quill turned to give him a nasty glare. "No matter what plan we make, there seems to be no way to get Clint and I both to Midgard. But, we can attempt to just send Clint."

"I told you!" Clint started but Loki held up a hand.

"I will use my strongest magic to knock you out long enough for them to leave me behind," Loki hissed, daring the archer to fight him on this. Clint snarled.

"I ain't leaving you," Clint once again stated. Loki shifted forward but as he did, Clint shifted back. "I don't care what you think you're gonna do. Laura will kill me if I go back without you."

"Who's Laura?" Quill whispered.

"You only want me to come so your family won't get mad at you?" Loki growled, his eyes darkening in anger. Clint huffed, mentally realizing how his statement must have sounded. Especially considering their deteriorating relationship on the farm.

"No, you just keep sitting there thinking no one gives a shit about you. But, you are part of my family!" Clint shouted. That made Loki pause. In fact, the guardians also looked a bit surprised at the archer's outburst. "You have gone through so much, with and without me. But I've seen you change from the guy I first met. I care what happens to you. I can't let Thanos get you."

"Clint," Loki mumbled, stunned.

"I don't care what anyone says. I will stay with you, even if it kills me," Clint promised.

"As touching as all this is, it still doesn't help us plan on what to do next," Rocket pointed out. The group sighed. But then an idea stuck Clint.

"Can you send a message out to Thor, or Heimdall?" Clint wondered, looking at Loki. The trickster sighed.

"Only if I was closer than we currently are or even got to," Loki replied. "I see no clear way out of this with both of us getting to Midgard."

"Alright, well while you fucks decide what to do next, I'm gonna go see if we can find some schmuck to pay us a lot of units to do something," Rocket called before turning and walking off. After a moment, Drax turned and followed.

"There has to be some way. Something we haven't thought of," Clint mumbled. Loki winced but refused to say anything. He had prayed things would go much differently than all this. Even now, Clint's body likely would not be able to withstand a trip with the Tesseract. Maybe in a few more months, baring anything other changes, the archer would be okay to travel as his magic would help center him, but Loki didn't want to wait that long. He needed to get Clint to go home.

"I'm sorry, but nothing is coming to mind here, Clint," Quill softly said. Clint sighed. This was unfair. There was always a solution. But then again, it wasn't normally Clint's job to think it up. Typically it was Tony, or Bruce, or Steve. And often Natasha as well. Clint... Clint had always just been along for the ride.

"Clint, you need to go back without me," Loki pressed. Clint shook his head. Loki gave a near silent groan. "Please."

"No," Clint hissed. Heaving a breath, Loki moved away.

"So, you guys just wanna tag along with us? Kinda help out?" Quill questioned.

"Quill, what if the slowing still happens?" Gamora asked.

"Then we'll willing get dropped off at the closest uninhabited planet that we could survive on," Clint answered. Loki huffed. Apparently that had not been on his agenda. Clint let out his own huff before leaving the room, intent on heading for his bunk. Loki, Quill and Gamora watched him go, Mantis slowly following after. Once he was sure Clint was gone, Loki turned to the others.

"If the slowing happens again, drop me off anywhere and take him with you. He deserves to go home," Loki ordered.

"I don't like that idea," Quill admitted. Loki sighed. He couldn't even tell them about the Tesseract without knowing that they wouldn't tell Clint about it. If Clint knew that Loki had had the stone with him the entire time, Loki doubted he'd be able to explain that Clint wouldn't have survived. And Clint certainly would blame the trickster for his magic rather than Ego.

"I don't fully like it either, but he needs protection. Sometimes even from himself," Loki retorted, looking back the way Clint had disappeared to.

* * *

Rocket did end up finding a poor schmuck to hire the guardians for help. The 'guy' wanted the group to defeat some type of 'mafia' like group that had kidnapped his wife, son and daughter. Clint bristled at the idea of what happened, thinking of his own family. Loki also didn't seem amused. Rocket, dumbass that he was, was just excited to be getting paid a really 'decent' sum.

"Alright, so where is this group?" Quill questioned after Rocket spilled some of the details and it became clear that everyone wanted to help.

"On the planet Molea," Rocket replied.

"Molea? You mean the Purgatory home planet? Are you insane?" Gamora screamed. Rocket shrugged.

"'Purgatory?'" Clint echoed, really not liking the name at all.

"Purgatory is a group of aliens, mostly Vreiqrul, that basically rule over this section of space," Gamora explained.

"And the Nova Corps-" Clint started. At the groups faces, he sighed. "Does nothing about it. Great."

"It's said that some of the officers are being bribed to ignore or protect any members. No one has been able to prove it yet, but it has become a well known rumor," Gamora replied. Clint rolled his eyes. Of course.

"So, are they strong?" Loki wondered.

"Kinda... The species they have in command are dangerous in their own right, never mind working with others. But, that's not to say people haven't stood up to them and lived, just... They're hard to beat," Quill stumbled over.

"Sounds like the mafia," Clint muttered.

"What is a mafia? Are they a dangerous species? Do they require slaughtrage?" Drax called, looking like he was preparing himself for war. Clint just stared at the guy, unsure how to answer. Even Loki didn't have anything to say. He just looked at Drax, wondering how this man had ever lived as long as he had. And Loki thought Clint had been bad...

"Doesn't matter what they are, we're going after the Purgatory," Rocket interrupted, saving Clint from having to try and answer.

"If this Purgatory is so dangerous, why have our services been required?" Mantis inquired.

"Cause, we're gonna get paid enough units to survive if we keep getting slowed the frag down," Rocket retorted. Clint huffed a laugh.

"And do you know how many we'll be facing?" Loki countered. Rocket looked to him and shrugged. Loki sighed. "What their defenses are?" Rocket stared, silent. "Where the family might be hidden?" Again, stare. Loki sighed, rubbing a hand across his nose. "It's like talking to Thor."

"Or Tony," Clint whispered. Loki snorted, he couldn't help it. Tony did have some amazingly stupid ideas that typically put a lot of people in danger. Hence, Sokovia and Ultron.

"Look, we'll figure it out once we get there," Quill informed. Loki looked to him.

"And if we don't carry the proper weapons, or supplies? You honestly think they'll let us pause and go get these items and return?" Loki growled. Quill shrugged. "By the Norns, I'm surrounded by idiots!"

"Hey!" Quill cried, offended.

"Well, can't you just magic us up things?" Rocket pondered. Loki huffed.

"Magic does not work that way," the trickster hissed.

"What about his bow thingy?" Rocket pointed out.

"I happened to have had a bow hidden with my magic in a small pocket dimension. I willingly gave it to Clint as a gift, making Clint the bow's new master. When it vanishes, it merely enters it's own pocket dimension, waiting for Clint to recall it," Loki snapped. Clint raised an eyebrow at all that. Loki hadn't explained it like that. "That bow had been in Asgard's vault for nearly a thousand years!"

"Then why did you have it?" Rocket growled. Loki paused at that, his eyes flicking to Clint for a brief moment. Snarling, Loki spun on his heel and walked away. The tension in the room vanished. "Uh... What just happened?"

"I believe Loki took that intending to give it to Clint even before all this," Gamora theorized. Clint frowned. Thor had said the vaults had been destroyed. And that likely Hela had ruined any powerful artifacts inside. But, if Loki was able to save the bow, what else could he have saved? Curious now, Clint headed off to find Loki. He found the trickster outside Loki's bunk.

"Loki?" Clint began. Loki sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry," Loki whispered. Clint frowned, moving to stand beside Loki. In the Lie-smith's hands was the Tesseract. Clint stilled, staring at it before looking back up at Loki. It was now that Loki decided to give Clint some half lies. He needed to make sure that Clint still trusted him. "I had nearly forgotten I had this. But the main reason why I never suggested it before, was that you likely wouldn't survive a second trip. You've been affected by far too many Infinity Stones and your body and magic will take time to heal yourself to be prepared for another trip."

"But, you could use it to get back?" Clint asked. Loki sighed.

"I believe so. Thanos wouldn't be able to control this," Loki replied. Clint glanced back at the Tecceract and then back to Loki.

"Is this-"

"No. It wasn't until I told the others about the pocket dimension that I remembered that I still had it with me. As much as any one believes otherwise, I do actually forget what I carry in my pocket dimension," Loki half joked, returning the Tesseract as he said so. Loki hoped that Clint would focus on the second part rather than the first part which was a lie. Clint snorted. "I likely have one of Thor's play hammers in there, but I can't remember."

"Well, I guess I can't blame you. I forget things all the time," Clint told the trickster. Loki smirked, pleased that he had been able to get around the fact that he had known about the use of the Tesseract long before this. "So, you think if the guardians bring me back alone, you can use that to get back?"

"I believe so. I see no reason why not," Loki responded. Clint sighed.

"I don't like the idea of leaving you behind. I've nearly lost too many friends doing that. And hell, I've nearly been killed when I made others leave me behind," Clint grumbled. Loki shifted to press a hand against Clint's arm.

"I am a powerful magic user, a thousand year old... Jotun. And I've survived thousands of battles keeping Thor and his friends safe from their own stupidity. I will be fine," Loki explained. Clint huffed.

"And if Thanos catches you again?" Loki shivered.

"I have the Tesseract. I don't need to wait for you to arrive on Midgard before I go back. If Thanos catches me, I will just use it to go back," Loki answered. Clint rolled his eyes but Loki could see that the archer was cracking. "I promise you, I will do all I can do to return as well. But you will be able to go faster without me."

"But-"

"Clint, please. You need to return home," Loki stressed. Clint sighed.

"I-"

"Clint. Must I knock you out?" Clint grimaced. "I will. I will make it that you fall into a stasis until your arrive on Midgard or I undo the spell."

"Won't I drain it?" Clint wondered. Loki paused before shaking his head.

"It isn't a constant spell. The magic will only happen at the beginning and the end," Loki replied. Clint huffed. "Clint, don't make me have to do it."

"I... Loki, please. We can find another way where you are with us," Clint tried. Loki shook his head. Clint was going to hate him for this. He had only a moment to catch the archer unaware and it was highly helpful when Quill and Rocket rounded the corner to check on them. Quickly saying the words for the spell, Loki lunged forward, pressing his hand to Clint's forehead. The archer started before dropping a second later. Knowing what was going to happen, Loki caught him before Clint crashed onto the ground.

"What did you do?" Quill called, staring at Clint as if Loki had just killed him.

"As I promised before, I have put him to sleep. I request that once you are done with your mission, you bring him straight back to Earth," Loki told the guardian. Quill frowned. "His body, while asleep, is also in a sort of stasis. He will not require food or water, nor will he wake until he is on Earth or I remove the spell."

"Doesn't that drain your magic?" Rocket asked.

"It did in the beginning but this spell, like the arrow spell I taught Clint, doesn't require magic for it to continue. It... In essence it's similar to a curse rather than a spell," Loki huffed out, glancing down at Clint with a small grimace. He doubted the archer would ever forgive him for this.

"Alright. We'll do what we need to and get him home. If anything props up, we'll return here," Quill promised. Loki nodded. He expected nothing less.

* * *

**Another week, another chapter.**

**Darius has been doing good. Relaxing a bit, actually listening a bit more about things we tell him to do... So, it's getting better. Just today we got a delivery of Disney Magic Bands for our Disney trip in February. First thing Darius says is 'ohh! New watches!' Tee hee. Then he wanted to take them and wear them. Sorry kiddo, we need these bands for our trip and we don't wanna lose them this early. Can't wait until the trip. Baby Jason is getting closer to crawling lately and seems to be getting into standing on his own faster. He might go cruising before crawling. Either way, he'll likely be on the move soon.**


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 - We'll Be Out Here Forever

"Are you certain it was like before?" Loki basically whined, looking over Clint, still left in 'stasis.' Quill sighed.

"It took us nearly a week to get back to Xandar. But, coming here to get you again, it only took a day, like it would normally take. It was also easy to arrive at Molea. Yes, it was like before," Quill summarized. Loki winced. He really had hoped that Clint could have returned home. It was unfair that the archer was stuck out here. Maybe... Maybe he should just risk using the Tesseract. He had wanted to protect Clint, but was making him live in space equal to a possible reaction to the magic of the Infinity Stone? "Look, you said you'd wake him if we couldn't do anything."

"I..." Loki started but trailed off. With a deep, deep sigh, Loki headed over to Clint and undid his spell. There was only a split second before Clint reacted and all he did was sock Loki with a very hard punch to the face. Loki stumbled back, shocked. Quill moved a step forward, ready to stop them from fighting. Between both of the magic and their fighting skills, the man doubted the_ Milano_ would pull through unscathed.

"You ever fucking do that again, I won't be liable for what happens after," the archer snarled, his eyes dark and dangerous. Loki winced, terrified about what he had done to the archer. The other guardian froze. He had never expected Clint to look so dangerous and frightening. "That spell doesn't fucking put one to sleep. It just froze my body. I could hear everything."

"I... I apologize. I had never been able to use that spell on a person. Mostly I practiced on animals," Loki admitted, stunned that he had not only betrayed Clint's trust like this but also put Clint in such a hard position. Clint shook his head and walked off, not walking to talk to the trickster anymore. It was moments like this that Clint seriously hated magic. Even if the purpose of the spell had been to get him home, it wasn't right.

"Wow, you really fucked that up," Quill muttered. Loki nodded.

"Yes. I did," Loki whispered and headed off to his bunk. He didn't want to speak to anyone. Quill frowned and headed out to see Clint standing at the cockpit, staring out at the stars. Slowly, he approached the archer.

"Clint?" Quill wondered. Clint sighed.

"I'll forgive him. He had good intentions," Clint said to the unanswered question. Quill moved to stand beside the archer.

"Any idea who would refuse you going back?" Quill asked, changing the subject.

"I don't think I made... Maybe the Chitauri," Clint mumbled, looking over to the guardian. Quill grimaced.

"Seriously?"

"Loki... When he came to Earth to steal the Tesseract, he had an army. An army of Chitauri. My friends and I beat them and... And sent a nuke to their face," Clint explained running a hand over his face, head and then down to the back of his neck. Quill frowned and considering Thor having questioned the weapon after the battle, the archer figured Quill had no idea what he meant. "A gigantic bomb."

"Ah."

"But, I'd think they'd be more mad at Loki then me. He promised them an easy fight and we gave them one hell of a fight. We did nearly lose, but we pulled it out in the end," Clint added. Quill nodded, not willing to admit that the Chitauri could have been destroyed from the start by blowing up their ship.

"You sound like a strong team," the guardian pointed out. Clint snorted.

"That was our first fight as a team," the archer chuckled. Quill laughed.

"Yeah, when we got the Orb, that was kinda our first fight as well. We... We met in prison and kinda escaped together. Then... We just never really split up," Quill replied. Clint smirked.

"Sounds about right. Seems like everyone kinda meets in a bad spot," Clint continued. Quill nodded before frowning.

"Hey, you mentioned Loki being different from when you first met him. What do you mean?" the guardian wondered. Clint sighed.

"Loki... Loki had been tortured for nearly a year. Thanos... Thanos had the Mind Stone in the Scepter. He used it on Loki and sent him to collect the Tesseract and open a portal to Earth so they had easy access to Asgard. When Loki came through to Earth, he... He used the Mind Stone on me. I... I became a shell of myself that only wanted to please him. But, I noticed things. He never rested, he couldn't fully think straight and often times he'd enter this trance state. Whenever he got out of it, he looked worse," Clint explained.

"How did you get free?"

"Natasha. She... She bashed my head really hard," Clint answered. Quill winced. "Yeah. Well, after that, we fought the Chitauri. When that battle finished, we found Loki in Tony's tower. His... His eyes had changed color, much like mine had. I didn't realize that until Thor had already brought Loki to Asgard for punishment."

"And, how did he get free?"

"Honestly... I never really got the full story. Thor just kinda came back, said he likely wouldn't leave us and mentioned Loki was dead."

"But-"

"Yeah... Well, he is a trickster and the 'god of mischief and chaos.'" Clint responded. Quill huffed a laugh. "I'm guessing illusion magic or something. Again, I don't have much of the story after that. Just know that around a couple years ago, Thor sent out a distress call to Earth asking for shelter. We granted it and built a nice little village for the survivors. When they arrived... Well, that's when I encountered the Soul Stone."

"Oh?" Quill questioned, shifting now cause he figured this was going to be a long story. Clint huffed.

"Unbeknownst to Thor and Loki, their father had had a girl before either of them. She... She was like a war hungry monster that demanded Asgard. She's one of the reasons Asgard was destroyed. Well, when she died and headed to 'Hel' she somehow sent something to me... Made it that when Thor and Loki came within my presence, I'd... I think I was supposed to actually die as she didn't originally have the Soul Stone..."

"Jeez," Quill sighed out in surprise, eyes wide. This poor guy couldn't catch a break. Clint nodded.

"Anyways... I... Come to find out it was just that my soul had been removed from my body. Hela, Loki's sister, she was in control of the stone. To distract me, she kept throwing me in my memories but twisting them, changing it so I'd suffer. When it didn't work, she took Loki's soul and we started living through his memories," Clint described. He then huffed a laugh. "Her comeuppance was far shorter and easier than it should have been but we got her."

"And coming across the Space Stone?" Quill asked. Clint snorted.

"It was in the river bed by my house," the archer lightly laughed out. "We... We were out searching for rocks. Coop... He found this rock that he wanted to show me. But when Loki saw it, he told Cooper to freeze. By the time Loki and I had gotten close enough to try and take it from him, he... He somehow activated it and Loki and I were... Weren't on Earth."

"You guys made it to nearly the other side of the galaxy," Quill mentioned. Clint sighed, hanging his head.

"Kinda just my luck," Clint chuckled. Quill sighed, moving so he was leaning on one of the seats and staring at Clint.

"How much have you gone through?" Quill inquired. Clint exhaled what could have been considered a laugh.

"Too much."

* * *

"So, what's next?" Clint asked later that day during what could be considered 'dinner.' Everyone had gathered and Loki was pleased to see that Clint allowed the trickster to be near him. But he wasn't going to press his luck by bothering the archer over what happened between them. Clint would come to him about it rather than Loki bringing it up himself.

"I say, if we can't get you schmucks home, we just go back to collecting bounties," Rocket suggested. "We already found that if we go to places that can't get these losers home, we don't get slowed down."

"And if a bounty leads you closer to a planet near Earth? Or Knowhere?" Clint countered. Rocket shrugged. Clint sighed and turned to look at Loki. Neither one of them wanted to mention that Loki had the Tesseract but that was really looking like the only choice.

"Clint does have a point. We need to do something. Figure out what is holding us back when we try," Quill added. "We aren't ditching them on some random planet and go about our lives."

"Who says we can't?" Rocket muttered. Quill gave the raccoon a quelling look.

"Quill, I'm sorry, but we have to be realistic about all of this. What if we can't find out who is delaying us? What if it stays like this?" Gamora wondered. She looked to Clint and Loki with a sympathetic gaze. "I'm not saying it's something we should do now, but it has to be put out there."

"I agree. We don't want to hinder your lives any more than we already have," Loki agreed. Clint huffed. "It is very strange that we are being held back without having the slightest clue who would be involved."

"Clint mentioned the Chitauri?" Quill guessed. While he knew how to defeat them (thanks to Yondu's gossip), he never had encountered them to see how smart they were. Loki sighed as Gamora's gaze hardened.

"No. They don't have the ability to do anything like this. My bet is still placed on Thanos, but I am unsure why Clint would be delayed without me," Loki answered.

"I haven't pissed off any other alien... Or... I don't think I have," Clint stated but paused, trying hard to think. "I... No one really mentioned what they were or anything and most times we just thought they could be science experiments gone wrong. Any of those could have been an alien and we just didn't know."

"But you said the others were stronger than you," Rocket pointed out. Clint nodded.

"Doesn't mean they won't go after me. I mean, look at yourselves. Out of all of you, who would you say is the 'least' threatening?" Clint questioned. Everyone turned to Quill.

"Hey," Quill whined.

"Okay, now, the rest of you. Would you go and save him?" Clint tried. The group said nothing which made Quill whine out another 'hey.' "Be honest." Slowly the group nodded their heads, which had Quill coo out an 'ah, guys.' "Okay, now with Quill captured by your worst enemy, you would be willing to go into the den of the beast to get him. If a group finds out your 'weakness' they will exploit it. So, if my friends and I pissed off any alien species, they'd likely jump at the chance to keep me away."

"But if your friends don't know?" Gamora wondered.

"Then... This is all a waste of their time and energy," Clint replied with a shrug.

"Your attitude is very odd," Mantis mumbled, her head tilted to the side. Clint's eyes flicked to her but didn't linger. While Clint wasn't obvious about his continued discomfort, he was slowly becoming civil with her. Even if fifty percent of the time he just didn't speak to her. Thankfully Mantis seemed to be respectful of his ire.

"He's a very odd human," Loki replied. Clint turned to give the Lie-smith a faux angry glare.

"Alright, well, for now we get some bounties?" Rocket asked. Everyone agreed.

* * *

Loki and Clint had now been traveling around the galaxy with the guardians for nearly half a year. The slowing of the _Milano_ was mostly centered around planets close to the Nine Realms area or if they made their destination Earth. They couldn't even get in range for Loki to send out a signal for help. But through this whole time, they never got any closer to figure out what was going on. Then suddenly, they were even able to return to Knowhere, which surprised everyone when they did it in normal time, but there they learned Cosmo's way to help send Clint and Loki home had been destroyed. They figured that must have been why they could return to Knowhere.

Taking bounties from all around was actually very interesting for Clint. Through the whole time, Loki kept teaching him different spells that would help in battle. Ironically, there were times that Clint actually asked to learn something that had nothing to do with battle. Loki was careful of course. He didn't want to rush Clint and certainly didn't want to push the archer away now that he had gotten so close to being good with the idea of using magic. Rocket on the other hand had made it his personal mission to make Clint as uncomfortable as possible with his spell work. That was until Loki had a 'practice' illusion chase the raccoon all over the _Milano_. Quill had also taken a rather keen interest in watching Clint practice. But he was wise enough to not upset either magic user.

"That's good," Loki praised when he felt the protection spell falling over him. Clint huffed an exhausted breath. This was a highly complicated spell and not really one that would be taught to a user as inept as Clint, but Loki figured sticking with 'battle' spells would work best for Clint's mindset, unless the archer asked for different. One thing they had also worked on was Clint shutting off his magic from draining the spell work used on him. That had to happen faster than planned after one incident where Clint almost accidentally drained Loki to the point of death. Other spells they hadn't been focused on enough for Clint to try and do them on his own.

"I need two... To keep it?" Clint gasped. Loki frowned. Clint already was focusing on the magic block and now the first protection spell. To add a second protection spell was likely something the archer wasn't ready for.

"To keep it on without concentration, yes. But that is far more complicated than I think you are ready for. You would need to concentrate on the first casting while also concentrating on the second," Loki informed. Clint growled and shifted. Loki frowned. "Do not attempt it. You already have two spells activated right now."

"I... I know," Clint hissed before his concentration broke. The backlash from the spell breaking actually had the duo stumble back, something that never happened when Loki had his spell break. "Jesus."

"This is something else we need to work on. Protection spells can have a larger backlash than any of the spells we worked on previously. If I had not casted my own on the area, we likely could have destroyed the ship," Loki mentioned. Clint sighed, falling to a knee. "We need to stop for the day."

"Yeah... Yeah," Clint huffed out. Loki had gotten pretty adamant lately that Clint learn as close to his limit as possible without Loki 'recharging' him. Now, they skirted that line often just to see how well Clint could hold a spell. Letting out a deep sigh, Clint centered himself and got back up to his feet. That was when there was a crash that jerked the ship.

"By the Norns?" Loki wondered as he looked toward the main part of the ship. Clint stumbled a moment. After trading a look, together they headed to the front of the ship only to have the air get sucked out for a moment. There was a hole in the ship. But it filled only a few seconds later with a golden shield.

"Who the hell are you?" Quill's voice cried. Clint traded a look with Loki and they headed in further. Standing there behind the cockpit was a woman in a skin tight outfit that reminded Clint a bit of Steve's outfit.

"My name is Carol Danvers," the woman introduced as if she hadn't just broken into their ship. Quill frowned. Considering Quill didn't seem to recognize her, Clint and Loki knew that Carol Danvers wasn't well known. "I was contacted by the King of Asgard to find a Clint Barton and Loki Odinson."

"Uh... What?" Quill replied, unsure what to focus on first and certainly wasn't going to spill the beans that the duo were on the ship. Clint and Loki stayed hidden in the hallway, watching. It was never good when some strange and apparently powerful person knew one's name. While it was interesting to hear that Thor had called for help, how did he get in contact with this woman?

"I have been-"

"Yeah, got that part. But, who are you?" Quill repeated. Carol sighed.

"I am Carol Danvers," she reintroduced.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Quill countered.

"I am also known by the name Captain Marvel," Carol informed. Quill made a face as if thinking, then focused on her.

"Yeah, no. Still not helpful," Quill told her. Carol sighed once again as if speaking to a child. Not that many of the others wouldn't agree with her choice. Quill wasn't all that good at understand things.

"I've been told that they would not believe me, so I have been given a message. 'Keep up Old man,'" Carol quoted. Clint stiffened, glancing at Loki. That was a message from Pietro. It had to be. While Loki had never been involved it any of that, Clint had described what happened to the real Pietro once Loki learned that they were staying with an alternate Pietro. Once or twice Pietro had called him that around the farm but when Clint began to get a bit upset with the words, the speedster stopped.

"We supposed to understand that?" Quill called. Carol rolled her eyes.

"The message isn't for you. It's for them," she retorted. Gamora finally appeared from another hall, looking at Carol with an uneasy attitude. Rocket followed behind her.

"And what makes you think they are here?" Gamora wondered. Carol made a noise that sounded like a sigh holding back a growl of agitation.

"I have a special connection to the Tesseract, which should be in the hands of Loki. It's through that connection that I have followed to here," Carol informed. Loki frowned. There was no way that Carol would have been able to sense the stone. The Tesseract was in a pocket dim... He had taken it out! Even though they had travel consistently and it had been months ago, the energy would still have been soaked into the ship. How could he have been so foolish?

"Okay, what if-" Quill started but stopped when Loki stepped forward. Carol quickly turned to stare at him even as Clint came out next. The woman sighed in relief.

"I'm here to bring you both back to Earth," Carol told the duo.

"We've kinda tried. Something slows us down when we get close," Clint mentioned.

"That would be the Kree," she explained. Loki frowned deeply. It made sense that the Kree would have been able to stop them. They were the only ones who had the technology to figure out the intended destination on a certain place or area. But why would the Kree want to block the two of them?

"The Kree? Why do they care?" Gamora asked.

"Earth had helped the Skrulls in the mid 90s and it angered the Kree. So now, they are trying to ban all from entering the area," Carol described. Everyone kinda paused at that.

"Are you kidding?" Rocket basically shouted. "We've been forced to avoid Earth based on a flargin grudge?"

"I apologize. I have been trying to deal with all of them, but there are other duties I must preform," Carol stated, her voice sounding strained as if holding back rage. Loki sighed, looking to Clint. It was odd that the Kree knew of Cosmo's way back after they had already visited Knowhere... So, why did it work then? Was a Kree ship actually watching them more consistently than other ships?

"So, how do you expect to help us arrive?" Loki questioned, changing the subject just a bit. Carol focused on him.

"There is a tracker on this ship," Carol answered. "I've already taken it off-"

"What?" Quill choked out. Carol ignored him. "Tracker?"

"The tracker is used to track the plotted course. Any course that would lead you to Earth would make the tracker activate and mess with the ships systems to have it seem to be on track while actually being slowed down."

"So, with the tracker gone, it should be fine, correct?" Loki wondered. Carol held a hand up and wiggled it.

"At the moment, the tracker's program is still in the ship, so one would need to manually take control," Carol described.

"Do you know the way to get there?" Gamora mocked, thinking that this whole thing was a load of crap. And she wasn't the only one. Clint, Loki, and Rocket couldn't really believe her. Carol just smiled at them and nodded. Hope flooded Clint's body.

"You really think you can get us back?" Clint inquired, his voice leaning toward hopeful even though he tried to tamper it. Carol nodded.

"Yes. I can get you back," Carol replied. Clint looked to Quill.

"Will you be okay with us borrowing the _Milano_ for one last attempt?" the archer asked. Quill frowned and one could see he was confused as to why Clint was asking him that.

"Uh... Well, we did promise to try and get you home. If this idea has a shot, lets do it," Quill decided. Carol nodded and shifted to get to the cockpit past Quill. The guardian went to put up a bit of a fight but Carol didn't even seem to notice or care. She quickly settled herself into one of the control seats and began checking the system over as she oriented herself on the ships mechanics. A moment or so later, the _Milano_ turned and started off on whatever path Carol was blindly taking to Earth.

"How long is this gonna take?" Rocket wondered, moving closer to look over the woman's shoulder.

"If all goes well, judging by how long it took me to get here. Only two days," Carol answered.

"We aren't that close to Earth," Gamora muttered before pulling up the charts in surprise. Carol glanced back.

"You're right near what Earth calls Gliese 163 c. Out here it's called Thodara," Carol said.

"That's still at least a month away from Terra," Gamora argued. Carol smiled.

"Not the way I came," she retorted.

* * *

**Oh my goodness, getting to the end here. To be more specific, only TWO more chapters left. Wow...**

**Darius has backtracked on his potty record. Most of this week he hadn't even mentioned he had to go and he also sat in it long enough for it to dry on his skin before we notice/he mentions it. UGH! Told him tomorrow I'm not gonna put him in a diaper. He can wander around in pants (PJs). Gonna be a _lot_ of cleaning for me afterwards. But if it gets it beaten into his head, it will be worth it. Just need to do more laundry for a while. And pack some extra shorts for our upcoming vacation. Which is in like 12 days! If you can't tell, I can hardly wait, lol. Baby Jason is giving his parents some issues because he is giving them a hard time on eating solid foods. Actually, I should phrase that a bit better. If it is baby food like cereal bars, banana wheels, puffs, yogurt drops and the like. But give him a French fry from our plates and he'll munch on that. Otherwise, he's doing good. Just being a normal baby.**


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 - Back Home

Gamora couldn't explain how Carol did it, but they were passing Pluto around the two day marker, three full days before the _Milano_ would have traveled without the Kree interference. Carol of course tried her best not to brag but everyone could pretty much feel her smug attitude. Clint had taken to hanging out in the cockpit rather than training as he wanted to see everything and certainly wanted to speak with the invading woman (especially as she was more up to date with culture than Quill). Carol was nice enough to name all the planets they passed in both what Earth may call them and what the 'aliens' called them. Loki even tended to watch over everything, curious to learn about the differences between everything. Asgard also happened to have different names of a lot of the planets, and he willingly pointed them out when they came upon it. Quill seemed to sulk more and more as they got closer and Gamora hung out with him, trying to get him over whatever funk he had fallen into.

Rocket, now that he lost much of his enjoyment, spent a lot of time trying to get Groot to stop playing those 'flargging' games. Something the tree had yet to do since Clint and Loki arrived outside of a battle or two. Drax stayed with Mantis, who avoided Clint. For a while Drax had tried to go between both groups but Clint still wasn't all that nice around Mantis. He was civil, but would rather just ignore her, even if she was speaking to him. Mantis at least understood why, so it wasn't too bad. And honestly, Clint felt guilty about it all. But, he would have done the same to Loki had the trickster stayed on Earth.

"We'll be at Earth in maybe another hour or so," Carol informed. Clint huffed a laugh. He never thought he'd get home. Quill and Gamora came up from the 'dinning' area and stopped. "Let me call out to Thor, tell him we're arriving."

"Okay," Clint muttered, backing away so Carol had more room when the woman waved her hand at a console he had been in front of. She nodded her thanks.

"Asgard, Marvel calling," Carol called out. For a moment there was nothing and Clint wondered if she had been wrong. Maybe she couldn't get a hold of anyone. What if she was a trap? But then Thor's voice called back.

"We hear you Marvel," the thunderer replied, his voice booming through the vessel. Loki and Clint sagged in relief at the familiar voice. While it had only been six months, both of which who had been gone longer, it was still gratifying to hear someone familiar after so long of being around strangers and new friends. "Were you successful?"

"Indeed," Carol answered, her gaze flipping back to look at the duo. Clint smiled.

"Brother," Loki said, leaning closer to where Carol had been talking. There was a thunderous laugh of joy that Loki found himself joining with a soft chuckle. Clint smirked, placing a hand on Loki's back when the Lie-Smith backed away.

"And the Eye of Hawk?"

"Dude, it's Hawkeye," Clint corrected with a smile, leaning close enough to be heard. Again, laughter.

"I know, my friend," Thor responded. "We are unfamiliar with the vessel you are traveling in. The Midgardians are worried."

"We are traveling in a ship called the _Milano_. We all mean no harm," Carol informed, turning to glare at Gamora. Gamora rolled her eyes and crossed her arms but nodded. She wouldn't do anything unless they did something to her or to the others. Carol gave her one more concerning look before moving back to flying.

"You have clear passage to New Asgard!" Thor declared. Clint exhaled a laugh. He was going home. "Friend Barton, your family has been informed about your situation and are waiting for you here."

"Oh, thanks," Clint muttered, relief clear in his voice. Laura, Cooper, Lila, Nate, and Pietro would all be waiting for him. He couldn't wait to see them. Hug them. Kiss them. Hell, he might even cry on them. A quick glance over and Clint could see that Loki was just as excited if not slightly nervous. Thor chuckled.

"We'll be arriving soon," Carol reported.

"We shall await your arrival," Thor replied before the transmission ended. Loki chuckled, looking over at Clint.

"He has grown into his role well," the trickster whispered. Clint smiled, leaning back to look at Loki.

"Never expected he wouldn't."

A little less than an hour later, the _Milano_ was slowly landing just outside the city bounds of New Asgard. Actually, it was the exact spot that the Asgardian ship had crashed into. Since crashing and settling, many of those pieces were getting reused in New Asgard so it was mostly back to an empty field. From the cockpit, Clint could see Tony, Steve, Bucky, Sam, Natasha, Bruce, Wanda, Thor and his family (Pietro included) waiting for them to land. Clint laughed in joy, moving to get to the back faster. Loki happily followed after. The Lie-smith was honestly surprised with how much he missed being with the Barton family, even if it had been for a nearly similar time to being with the guardians. Once the _Milano_ landed, Carol opened the back hatch and everyone exited.

"DADDY!" two young voices screamed. Clint laughed and rushed toward the young figures. He caught them halfway and pulled them into rough hugs. The rest of both groups trailed a bit slower after the kids. Clint looked up to see Cooper hiding partly behind Laura. The boy had grown so much since he had seen him last. Well, all of the kids had grown so much. But Cooper looked so much older than he should be. He was a look he had recognized on himself and on Natasha long ago. A child who grew up too fast.

"Coop," Clint called, getting to his feet and opening his arms up for a hug. Cooper sobbed before rushing to his father, knocking him back down onto the ground. Clint hardly noticed, just wrapped his arms around the boy and squeezed.

"I thought I killed you," Cooper moaned, hugging his father tightly. Clint nearly let out his own sob. Having to have gone through six months of blaming yourself. Clint knew how much that sucked. Cooper should never have had to go through that.

"Nah, buddy. It's hard to kill me," the archer joked, his voice cracking just a bit. The Avengers chuckled at Clint's line. It was something they had said when Hela stole the archer's soul. He was like a cockroach. Looked like he was down but just sprung back up. Slowly, Clint stood up, making sure not to dislodge the teen. Laura and Pietro hugged the archer next and surprisingly, Lila and Nate decided to go and hug Loki, who willingly hugged them back to the surprise of everyone but the Bartons. Cooper refused to let go of his father even after Laura and Pietro moved aside to hug Loki as well. As secretly as she could (which wasn't all that secretly), Laura pecked a kiss on the Lie-Smith's cheek.

"Glad you made it back," Natasha greeted. Clint snorted and pulled her into a hug. There was no way anyone was going to get away without one. Even if Cooper was pulled in as well. The greetings were nice and quick (Clint only getting longer cause he hugged everyone while Loki got a mix of a nod, a verbal hey, or a handshake [outside of Thor]) but very emotional for those who had been missing. Once over though, the ones who had been left behind kinda warily looked the guardians over. In turn, they looked the others over. Rocket actually seemed highly focused on Bucky for 'some reason.'

"These are the guys who helped Loki and me out as much as they could," Clint started. Quill snorted. While it was true, the statement almost rubbed him the wrong way. Gamora shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. Drax glanced at Mantis when the other alien pressed a hand to his arm to make him stop from saying something stupid. Too bad she didn't do the same for Rocket.

"Hey, not our fault you morons messed with the wrong aliens!" Rocket accused. For a moment the guardians wondered if the Avengers would be shocked by a talking raccoon, but none of them seemed phased. Honestly, it wasn't the oddest thing any of them had had to deal with. And it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"What's he talking about? Did the-" Tony started. Clint shook his head, already knowing what the genius was about to say.

"Apparently in '95, Fury hid a whole bunch of aliens called Skrulls from another bunch of aliens called Kree. The Kree are the ones that basically made it extremely hard to get back," Clint explained. Tony blinked his eyes a bit. Hell, Steve and Natasha also seemed surprised. Which was highly odd for Natasha. She knew everything. Or well, mostly everything.

"What?" he called afterwards totally confused. He had been through S.H.I.E.L.D's servers backwards and forwards. Even looked through the sensitive information that Natasha had to leak when dealing with Hydra. But there had been no mention of Skrulls or Kree.

"I'll explain later," Carol promised, waving her hand dismissively. Tony frowned but accepted the deal.

"Anyways, this is Rocket," Clint introduced, pointing down the raccoon. Rocket rolled his eyes but waved a hello. "Drax." Drax nodded his head, unsure what was the wise action to take here. "Mantis." Mantis glanced to Clint in surprise. He hadn't actually sounded mad anymore. There was a pause as Clint looked around the group. After a moment, he sighed and decided to just skip over Groot who was likely still on that damn game somewhere in the ship. "Gamora." Gamora kind of gave everyone a glare until she focused on Natasha and got her glare returned in kind. That made her lips twitch. Natasha mirroring the action. "And Peter Quill."

"Aka, Star Lord," Quill added.

"No one calls you that," Gamora, Loki, and Clint all said at the same time. Quill huffed, giving them a betrayed look.

"I'm still getting it out there," the guardian pouted.

"And, you guys know all of them," Clint replied, not even getting into the other side.

"Wait? How do they know us?" Tony asked.

"Loki and I introduced you through illusion magic," Clint easily replied, something he'd never had done in the past. Something that no one ever thought Clint would just casually mention. Even Laura seemed surprised. Noting the strangeness of it and silently wondering if the man who returned was indeed her husband, Laura glanced to Wanda for help. Frowning, the witchling took a closer look before gasping in shock, a hand flying up to her mouth in surprise. Clint had felt it only a moment before he was able to stop her doing anything. His non-draining spell was currently up, but he had never tested it against anyone but Loki. Even Loki made a face at Wanda's 'invasion' of privacy.

"You!" she cried, ignoring the fact that she had broken her promise of not using her magic on the archer. Clint grimaced, knowing exactly what the teen had seen.

"Not by choice," he muttered to her, looking to the ground. Laura gasped now, her hands quickly covering her mouth. Cooper squeezed Clint a bit, drawing the archer's attention. Silently Clint basically told the teen that he was changed from those six months. And not just physically or mentally.

"What? What are we missing here, now?" Tony demanded, pointing a finger to Clint, Loki and then Wanda. Wanda glanced between Clint, Loki and Tony. She had already betrayed the archer and she wasn't keen on doing any more. Loki focused on Clint and frowned when he noted that Clint had no intention of answering. Sighing, he decided to let the group know.

"Clint has been gifted with very powerful magic that he had locked away. While we were in space, a..." Loki began but paused here, unsure how to explain Ego without insulting Quill. Luckily, Quill had no such issue.

"Egotistical asshole," Quill grumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear. Loki and Clint snorted as Gamora shifted a bit closer to Quill, almost in silently support. That was certainly one way to describe the Celestial. And it was even better that Quill was the one to say it rather than either of them.

"Yes, he decided to unlock that very same magic," Loki finished, watching the Avengers for reactions. Pietro rushed forward and grasped Clint in another hug and the archer found himself tightly held by both boys. Lila and Nate also headed over but neither of them could get close enough to hug Clint themselves.

"Okay, so what does that mean?" Tony wondered, not fully understanding what Loki had been saying. Thor let out a shocked sigh, staring at Loki, almost wondering if this was another of his brother's tricks. Loki subtly shook his head no. Steve and Bucky glanced at each other, frowning and getting into a silent argument. Natasha turned to watch them, not okay to stare at her partner at the moment. Sam frowned, looking between Thor and Loki as if they'd give him some sort of answer. Bruce curled in on himself, understanding the idea of the change Clint must have gone through.

"Means I can use magic. Actually, have to use magic," Clint replied, correcting himself. Laura gasped again. She remembered Loki saying that before. Once Clint attempted to use his magic once, he'd have to regularly do a spell to keep it from 'exploding' out of him.

"No!" Pietro cried, hugging Clint tighter. Clint felt his shirt begin to get wet from two different sides. That was when he realized, it hadn't just been Cooper around when the duo vanished. Pietro would have been the first person to have dealt with Cooper after Loki and Clint were sent away. "You..."

"Again, not by choice," Clint reminded shifting his grip to rub his hands along both boy's backs.

"I've been training Clint in some 'minor' spells so that he can easily practice his magic on his own and not allow a build up," Loki explained as if someone had asked. Only Wanda and Thor seemed to understand what Loki was talking about. But then Thor frowned, remembering something from the past. "Something that could happen to any user if they went too long without casting a spell."

"Is that what happened that day?" Thor questioned. Loki frowned for a moment, trying to think of exactly what day the thunderer meant. Then he got a flash of being in a celebration feast. As he ate, Loki had begun not feeling like himself. Before Frigga could even attempt to ask what was wrong, every item of food and drink on all the tables pretty much exploded all over the room. The trickster chuckled at the memory before nodding. It hadn't been funny or even comfortable at that moment but now he could see the humor and see why other Asgardians believed it had been a trick.

"Okay, so we need the deets, like now," Tony ordered, again pointing his finger to Clint before hitting Loki and then the guardians. Clint rolled his eyes.

"I just got back after nearly a year away. Please, let me just take a minute," the archer muttered, almost put out. Tony scoffed and went to speak but stopped when a hand was placed on his shoulder. The genius looked over to see it was Steve.

"Clint's right, Tony. We need to give him time to hang out with his family," Steve replied. Bucky nodded, glancing quickly at Steve with a knowing eye. Steve saw it and gently nodded his head as well. They were currently in agreement. No matter how much their plan sucked. Thankfully no one else noticed what the duo did. Tony whined.

"But-"

"No, Tony," Steve repeated. Tony whined again but Steve gave him a 'don't mess with me' look. Amazingly enough. It worked.

* * *

Hanging out with everyone once again was great for both Clint and Loki. The latter was surprised by how many members of the group had truly missed him. He had assumed maybe Thor, the Barton family and Pietro but never guessed about Wanda, Natasha and Bruce. Loki could only think back to his mother's spell in his memories. The strings had latched onto all the Avengers and the Barton family. Tony and Cooper pretty much refused to let Clint leave their sight. Clint was fine with the latter but tried to avoid the former who kept asking about his various experiences in space (in the interest of science). Eventually Quill (with Gamora at his side) took pity on Clint and began answering Tony's questions. Sadly though, Quill and certainly Gamora didn't understand a lot of what Tony was asking so Bruce had to help translate the 'genius speak.'

Thor ended up inviting everyone to a celebration feast that to his surprise, Val had already started preparing. The feast was as epic as Thor had always told the Avengers that it should have been. Though they were surprised when Loki claimed that the feast they were enjoying was likely not even a quarter of what was normally prepared on Asgard for even a simple supper. But that may have been due to larger meat sources and far many more Asgardians with larger appetites than Midgardians. Though Drax did try his best to compete with one of the more portly Asgardians who had joined.

"And then the idiot calls out 'anyone getting tired?'" Rocket crooned to Bucky, Steve and Sam.

"That sounds like Clint," Steve chuckled, looking over to the archer who had lovingly placed himself so that Cooper was on his left and Laura on his right. But to Cooper's left was Loki. In the entire time the duo had been gone, the poor kid had been traumatized. It had taken them a long time to start getting him better. Then there was news that both of them lived. And it nearly caused a downward spiral all over again. It was only cleared when both Clint and Loki made sure Cooper understood that they didn't blame him.

"Oh, but after that! Jeez, this guy can take a beaten," Rocket praised. Clint looked over.

"You talking about those children who attempt to try torture?" Clint joked. Laura tensed up, as did Cooper. Clint wrapped an arm around his wife and placed a hand on Cooper's shoulder even as Loki wrapped his own arm around the teen. Neither one of them would ever blame Cooper for what had happened to them. It had been an accident. While it had led them into horrible situations, there was nothing that could have been done. Rocket cackled.

"I have never seen someone stand up to a truth collar for so long," Gamora added, a smile on her own face. Clint shook his head.

"Yeah, bet anyone one of these guys could do it longer," Clint brushed off, nodding his head toward the assembled Asgardians. Many of whom had stopped eating and listened to the conversation. Loki rolled his eyes.

"Thor was tested once. Didn't even hesitate," the trickster informed. Thor turned, finally noting the conversation that had been happening. He had originally locked in a conversation with Drax and Mantis.

"Oh?" the thunderer wondered. Loki mouthed 'truth collar' and Thor 'ahh-ed.' "Yes, those things are very powerful. Hard to fight back." Clint blushed, turning away. Someone had to have done better. "Pray tell, what were they asking about that made you fight?"

Rocket, Gamora, and Loki all looked dead at Cooper. Cooper stiffened. That didn't seem good. Laura huffed a breath of surprise. Though, she really shouldn't have been surprised. Clint would do anything to keep them all safe.

"What?" the teen mumbled.

"They asked about Cooper?" Steve clarified. Cooper frowned, looking to his father.

"They wanted to know the captain of the _Milano_ but they kept asking me 'who is your captain.' So, my captain is you, Steve," Clint informed. Steve nodded, figuring that's what Clint would have said. Beside him, Bucky stiffened and then quickly looked away from the archer. "Well... The alien didn't like that so asked for more details. Mentioned I was from Midgard rather than Earth and then the alien asked who sent Loki and me to space."

"While he could not hold back informing the alien it was his son. When asked the name, Clint held back for a solid three minutes and the question being repeated a few times over," Gamora finished. Clint sighed, looking away from his son even though everyone was now paying attention.

"I have never heard anyone last so long," Val called, surprised. "The longest that I've ever heard of was barely a minute."

"Yes, well, he topped that. Once the alien left, Loki said it was out of distance and so Clint answered to all of us," Gamora continued.

"When the dude came back, we all kept finishing the question before he could finish," Quill chimed in. Bucky laughed.

"What did you ask?" the soldier wondered.

"Uh, Flash Gorden," Quill started.

"The first person he spoke to of our group," Gamora added.

"His best friend," Rocket included.

"Tony Stark," Loki finished. Tony perked up.

"What?"

"It was the first thing I thought of. I needed to be quick," Loki said, shrugging.

"Don't forget the fourth President of the US," Clint chuckled. Quill snorted. And they decided to leave the rest of the half hour unsaid. It wasn't worth everyone knowing how long they had done that for. Heck, they were all still amazed they had thought of so many questions. And that Arath hadn't simply left in anger.

"So, any other interesting stories?" Tony wondered. Clint smirked.

"Met a telepathic dog," the archer stated. The table went silent. Well, mostly so. Many of the Asgardians had begun speaking in whispered tones about Clint being so mentally strong and wondering if all Midgardians were like him. "He's named Cosmo."

"The Russian astronaut? From the Soviet Space program?" Tony asked. Clint frowned, thinking about the dog more carefully. Cosmo had been dressed in an astronaut suit. And there had been highly familiar symbols on the outfit but his brain never caught on the fact that Cosmo wasn't an alien dog. He was a Earth dog that happened to get telepathic and telekinetic powers.

"Would explain the accent," Clint retorted, shifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck in a sheepish way. The Earth half of the table groaned. Only Clint.

* * *

"Thank you once again for trying to help us," Clint thanked, shaking Quill's hand. Behind him, the Avengers just silently watched. Cooper finally unlatching himself from his father but had no latched himself to Laura.

"Hey man, just glad you made it," Quill responded and he honestly did look relieved. The man had seriously thought that Clint and Loki would be stuck out there, unable to get home. Hell, he thought that maybe he wouldn't ever be able to return (not that he wanted to).

"Still wanting some units for that," Rocket muttered, his arms crossed and snidely staring at the archer. Clint snorted, shaking his head. Only Rocket.

"Told you, we don't work in that here," Clint replied. Rocket huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess I won't miss you too."

"Yup, same here," Rocket snorted. Lightly chuckling, both of them did a small high five.

"Dude, did you just high five a-" Tony started.

"Don't!" Loki, Quill, Clint, and Gamora all cried, spinning on the genius. Tony pouted but did stop.

"Our fights shall be spoken of in legend!" Drax declared, Mantis having already snuck back to the ship. Clint chuckled as Loki shook his head. Gamora simply nodded her head and headed into the _Milano_. Quill smirked and followed after her. Drax turned and headed after the group but Rocket stayed behind, his eyes on Bucky. Clint followed the sight before sighing. After six months of watching the raccoon trying to weasel any prosthetic off of someone, Clint knew exactly what Rocket was asking.

"He won't and see ya," Clint informed, spinning back to look at the raccoon. Rocket huffed.

"He'll give it sooner or later," Rocket claimed. Clint rolled his eyes.

"I feel I'm missing something," Tony mumbled but Bucky looked down to his arm and frowned deeply. If Bucky did figure it out, he didn't say anything about it. And with that, the last guardian headed into the _Milano_ and Clint noted teenage Groot had come out to find out why Rocket was taking so long.

"See ya!" Clint called out to the typically sheltered tree. Groot looked up to him and gave a half smile and a wave.

"I am Groot!" Groot cried back. Loki, Thor and Clint snorted.

"Uh... Was he trying to introduce himself?" Bucky asked.

"Nah. He knows three words. 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot' in that order. But, his meaning behind each of those words is pretty easy to imply," Clint answered as the back hatch of the _Milano_ closed and the engines started up. Sam and Steve traded looks as Sam mouthed 'easy to imply.'

"So, what did he say?" Bucky continued as the _Milano_ lifted into the air and took off.

"Bye, loser," Loki translated. Clint snorted again but didn't deny it. Instead he looked to Loki.

"Pretty sure it was directed at you," the archer joked. Loki laughed and gave the archer a light slap.

"When did you two get this close?" Natasha noted, her eyebrow raised. Clint shrugged not wanting to get into all the details. A lot had happened with the duo and there was no full need to get into it all. But, Clint figured she was mostly asking if Loki had somehow taken control of him again.

"A mix between Hela and needing to stay together to survive space," Clint retorted before heading up to New Asgard. Yeah, now that the _Milano_ was gone with the guardians and Carol had long ago taken her leave, Clint was ready to head home again. But, no one was gonna let him get away with it just yet.

"Dad, you said you can do magic now. What can you do?" Cooper silently wondered. Clint stiffened a bit before chuckling.

"I'll show ya later," Clint replied. Laura slipped closer to Loki.

"Thank you for being there," she said to the trickster, giving him a hug. Loki nodded and sighed, glancing over to the archer.

"I just wish I stopped the man who did that to him. I knew there was something about that guy that wasn't good," Loki whispered. Laura placed a hand on Loki's arm. "It was difficult to teach Clint magic. I had to go into higher level spells than he should have been learning just to get him used to the idea."

"So, what can he do?" Wanda inquired knowing that if Clint hadn't responded to his son, there was a huge doubt of him answering her. Loki smirked, knowing what the witchling was trying to do. She wasn't as subtle as she thought she was being.

"Maybe he'll show you."

* * *

**One more chapter. And I can only pray I can post it on time. This coming Thursday, I will be traveling to Disney. While I will have internet and access to this computer, I may completely forget to post. If I do, sorry.**

**OMG! Have you ever tried typing in a chair with a kid hanging of the arm of the chair, hitting you and pushing you and basically shouting in your ear? If you haven't, YOU ARE SO LUCKY! Darius just won't stop. And when I tell him to he either replies, 'I'm sorry' or 'I want to sit with you.' There is no room in this chair! When I used to type on the couch there was room. But I shifted to a chair and now, no room. And if that wasn't enough. All potty training, thrown out the window and now joined in with CONSTANT LIES! He's almost worse than Loki! He is an Energizer Bunny of annoyance! Meanwhile, I'm tittering on a cliff of anxiety and anger. God, I wish I wasn't.**

**Baby Jason is currently dealing with teeth coming through and kind of gives his parents a hard time. He isn't crying to much now a days. But, he's sharing Darius's energy apparently as this kid could bounce in his bouncer for like ten minutes straight before stopping for a minute and then doing it again! (probably not that long but totally feels like it when all I want is silence) It's not as annoying as Darius and I totally enjoy that when I look at him, Baby Jason does this huge smile and if I walk up to him a certain way, he laughs at me. Or maybe laughs at what he knows I'm going to do. Probably laughing at me.**


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 - Showing Off

"Come on, it's later!" Lila whined at Clint the next day. The archer laughed. They had been planning on returning to the farm after this but it wasn't just the kids who wanted examples of Clint's magic. "Please!"

"Okay, okay," Clint finally relented. Between Cooper, Nate, Lila, Tony, Pietro and even Laura, Clint had been asked what seemed to be a zillion times. Loki smirked, unable to help himself. He had been asked by a few as to what Clint could do. Amazingly, he didn't want to inform anyone as it was Clint's information to tell. It was something he had never cared to wait on with Thor and his friends. "Gonna need to head to the field though."

The knowledge of Clint's about to show what he could do, spread like wildfire. A large group quickly assembled to the field and surprisingly it wasn't just Clint's friends. A lot of the Asgardians had come over to watch as well. It had quickly been spread around that Loki had been teaching Clint offensive magic. Magic that they didn't typically see the Lie-smith do. So they were curious as to what Loki could have actually been able to do, given half the chance. Clint looked the group over and sighed. He hadn't expected to be so popular, especially with the Asgardians.

"Much bigger than Rocket and Quill isn't it," Loki muttered, understanding that Clint was nervous about so many people watching. Clint smirked, dropping into his showtime performance attitude. He hadn't shot for a crowd this large (without killing them) since the circus betrayed him and left him for dead.

"I worked in a circus. Used to large crowds," the archer retorted, turning around to look at the field. There was no way that he'd mention that performing magic in front of even just his family was something he wasn't pleased with. Shooting his arrows, trapeze work, tightrope walking, and some acrobatics was something he was used to. Magic was extremely different and almost seemed a bit more private. But, if he planned on using the magic during fights, he had to be prepared. So, instead he simply turned his smirk to Loki. "Gonna need a target."

Loki laughed, knowing exactly who to place on the other end of the field. With a wave of his hand, an image of a Trogziks, specifically Arath appeared. Clint loudly laughed at the image even as most of the Asgardians trilled at the sight. Trogziks, while not ever fully seen in these parts, were known to the Asgardians. Steve, Tony, Natasha and Bruce all stiffened at the sight before them. Bucky and Sam just traded looks but said nothing. Pietro frowned while looking at the rest of the Barton family who seemed nervous but trusted the people around them to protect them if necessary. Ignoring it all, Clint flicked his wrist and called upon the bow that Loki had gifted him.

"Brother," Thor grumbled at the sight. Clint stilled, curious, while Loki stiffened and glanced back at the thunderer but noted Thor had a small smile on his face. That made the trickster laugh but he didn't respond. Clint glanced over to Loki briefly before muttering the spell and pulling back on the string. A loud gasp echoed through the Asgardians but Clint ignored them.

"Uh, think you're missing something there Legolas," Tony called out. Clint smirked and then the arrow appeared in his grasp and a moment later, he fired. "Holy-"

Steve quickly placed a hand over Tony's mouth before he could finish. Clint ignored it and began to continue rapid firing away at the arrows he made from 'pure air.' About five minutes later, Clint stopped and turned to look at the group. Tony looked to Clint, then looked to the arrows, then looked to Clint.

"Go on down there. They are real," Clint informed. Tony made a face but in a puff of smoke, Pietro had rushed down the field, collected all the arrows and returned. Tony grabbed one from the kid and looked it over.

"It's my design?" the genius spluttered. Clint nodded.

"I can make them however I want, including doing my trick arrows," Clint replied. Tony hummed, distracted over looking the arrows over. With a smirk, Loki nudged Clint, nodding to the arrows. Clint softly chuckled and then whispered the spell to make them disappear. The noise Tony made when the arrows suddenly vanished made a lot of people laugh. "I can also make them disappear so I don't have to collect them when I'm done."

"That is awesome!" Cooper cried. Clint laughed, making the bow vanish again. Bucky and Steve traded a look with a smile. They backed away a step, watching over the area. No reason for anyone to pay specific attention to them as they shared a secret between themselves.

"Ok, how do you do that?" Sam wondered. Clint glanced down to his now empty hand.

"That is not magic," Thor answered for the archer. "The bow that Loki _stole_-"

"You really expected that it was just the Tesseract I removed from the vaults?" Loki countered. Thor hummed but he didn't sound angry. In fact, he actually seemed rather pleased.

"That bow is called Izril, Eye of Fidelity," Thor continued. "It has sat unused in the vaults for nearly as long as our father ruled over Asgard. Many of our archers tested themselves on it, but the string never moved." Clint looked to Loki in surprise. The trickster had never mentioned this before. Gulping, he turned back to Thor. "Similar to Mjolnir, Izril has a spell on it that says only the greatest archer in the universe would be able to pull back on it's string."

"Seriously?" Clint stuttered, focusing on Loki. "You gave this to me without knowing I'd be able to use it?"

"I knew you would," Loki corrected, staring sharply at Clint. "You wield the bow to protect people. Those who tried to use it before were doing it for personal gain or intent on useless warring. Izril would not allow them to pull back on it's string because they were not worthy. It is much like Mjolnir in the aspect that it chooses it's master based on heart."

"You knew the minute you met me," Clint mumbled. Loki nodded.

"I may have been out of my mind, but that idea stuck with me. Watching you fight with the others, I knew Izril would draw for you," Loki praised.

"Mjolnir doesn't vanish like that when not in use," Tony pointed out.

"Izril does what it's master needs. When Clint does not wield a bow, it sits waiting for use in a pocket dimension that now follows him. To draw the bow out of it, Clint merely needs to think of it coming to his hand," Loki described. "Mjolnir does not do the same thing because it is meant not only as a weapon, but a show of power."

"Have you attempted much else?" Wanda asked in lieu of the current subject.

"Successfully, I can cast a protection spell on myself and others. And... And make my magic not drain the magic others use on me," Clint replied.

"Wait, why that?" Tony wondered, stopping Clint from explaining his lesser known spells.

"Every living creature has magic locked away inside them. Many of those do not have enough magic to even attempt a simple spell. But others, like Strange, Wanda and Clint, have more magic inside them. When I used the Mind Stone on Clint, it awakened a bit of his magic. Not enough to make him a user but enough that it attempted to protect him from others magic that attacked him. Magic like the Infinity Stones," Loki explained. "The more magic used on him, the more he absorbed."

"And someone has unlocked this magic, right?" Bucky softly reminded with a deep frown. Even Steve didn't seem pleased with this information. They seemed far more angered about this information than any of the others. Having done a brief explanation about it before, neither Clint or Loki were surprised that people wanted more information. Clint sighed, giving into the inevitable. Best to get it all out now.

"Yeah... While traveling with the guardians we got into a spot of trouble. Our 'savior' was a 'Celestial' called Ego," Clint started. Tony snorted at the name. "Ego had gone about the universe producing children from various aliens on each planet. One such child was Quill. Ego, while trying to trick Quill into going to his planet, noticed me and tried to convince me to go along. I refused."

"But, we got into a small argument with Rocket and Clint walked off," Loki added. Clint sighed.

"Mantis... She snuck up on me. She has the ability to feel and control emotions in a being. When she captured me, she basically put me to sleep and I was taken to Ego's planet along with Quill. I was kept separate from the others and Ego... Ego, he created these children in an effort to get enough power to basically take over the universe and create it in his own image. I think... I think he may have also wanted my magic to help," Clint guessed, glancing at Loki. Loki shrugged. Neither of them really ever did find out why Ego did what he did.

"So this Ego unlocked your magic?" Wanda summarized. Clint nodded. "How?"

"Uh... He like, dug around and... It felt like he knocked down a wall and suddenly I could feel my magic and it started to try and take his magic. That must have freaked him out cause he ended up not trying to use me to power... Whatever he was doing," Clint answered.

* * *

Returning home ended up actually being 'invasion of the Avengers (minus Thor).' Clint had Loki magic up some more rooms, amazingly watching and trying it once or twice himself (with little success). Something that Wanda was happy to also come over and learn, glad that Clint was actually more willing to learn beside her. Loki was even proud that Clint was even more willing in learning something other than offensive magic. Most of what they had worked on with the guardians were offensive and some defensive magic. The others enjoyed the prospect of their own rooms in the Barton household that some of them (Tony and Natasha) asked for certain aspects to be designed in.

Clint and Loki were pleased to find out that even without the duo being there, Pietro had easily taken care of the fields, outside of the out of season foods that Loki tended to magic up. And Laura, Cooper and Lila had gotten rather good at selling everything to make money. Between drinks, pies, scones and other goods, they were pretty popular in town. Actually, the money they made was close to more than what Laura had been making at her job in town. It was helpful and made life simpler, especially now that Clint and Loki had returned and Loki used magic to get things that the family couldn't afford (but find a way to secretly pay back later).

"Concentrate on what you want," Loki coached, watching over his students. Clint scrunched up his face, having gotten more than used to Loki saying that. Wanda, on the other hand, seemed to close in on herself to think even more. They had been having some difficulty getting this spell right. Loki had already had to show what to do nearly twenty times. But, the Lie-smith was surprisingly patient.

"You sure he can do it? Cause, he doesn't seem like he could," Tony mocked after having seen them working for a long while. Normally, Tony wouldn't have had the attention span to deal with all this but he had FRIDAY scanning everything. Clint snorted and focused harder for a moment and then a red plump and fresh steak landed on Tony's head. Steve, who stood beside Tony, laughed hard at the genius's face.

"You really shouldn't push your luck like that," the Captain joked. Clint turned with a faux innocent gaze.

"Oh darn, my concentration must not have been strong enough to get it on the plate," Clint sarcastically stated. Tony huffed, placing his glasses on the banister of the porch, and turned to go back inside to clean himself up. As he went, Laura and Bucky came out. Bucky glanced at Steve curiously. Steve just smiled.

"Uncle Tony made fun of Daddy," Nate happily informed in his three year old voice. Bucky snorted. Yup, Tony deserved what happened.

"You are teaching your kids bad habits," Laura happily mentioned, a large smile on her face. Clint laughed, his concentration on the 'calling' spell dropping.

"What's so bad about pranking Tony?" Clint wondered. Laura shook her head but couldn't hide her smile from growing that much larger.

"You keep learning more magic, Tony might want to start studying you," Natasha pointed out, scooping Nate up into her arms, making the boy squeal in delight. Clint smirked, unfazed. He had already given Tony a _limited_ amount of studying of his magic.

"I'll just send him to the other side of the world," the archer laughed, even though he didn't know that spell. This time Loki laughed, the image of Tony appearing in the Sahara or something. Then there was a wet sounding squelch. Clint glanced to Wanda. On her plate was an extremely huge cut of a steak. "Awesome job, Wanda!"

"Thanks," the witchling replied, blushing fiercely. Loki nodded and focused his gaze on Clint. The archer, sensing it, turned to him.

"That alone won't feed the crowd," the trickster accused. Clint snorted and turned back to concentrating on doing the spell himself. A moment later a smaller size steak appeared.

"Aww, steak, no," Clint whined, looking between his size and Wanda's. Wanda and Loki laughed at that.

"Seriously, that's just a mouthful Barton," Bucky called out. Clint snorted before concentrating a bit harder. Then three larger steaks covered his plate. Clint turned to show it to him.

"This fill you up, garbage can?" the archer wondered. Bucky cackled. Beside him, Steve elbowed the man with a heartened smile.

"Good, now we need like a hundred more," Laura pointed out, moving to take the full plate from Clint. The archer sighed but handed the plate over and grabbed one of the other plates that Loki had smartly collected for Clint and Wanda to practice with.

An hour or so later, Wanda and Clint had 'collected' enough steaks to feed everyone in the house (Loki made sure the places the duo had gained the food from was paid). Pietro was nice enough to collect some potatoes and vegetables to act as sides. And while Laura did most of the cooking, Natasha and Cooper had stayed in the kitchen to help. The food was delicious and everyone said so. Afterwards, Clint vanished to go rest. While using that much magic may have been normal for Wanda, Clint had also needed to keep up the spell that locked his magic from stealing from Wanda.

"He okay?" Steve asked a few minutes after Clint disappeared.

"Unlike Wanda and myself, Clint needs to concentrate on holding the spell that makes his magic not steal from us. It is a constant thing and can be draining as he works with other more complicated spells," Loki described. "He may not have actually needed the rest at this point, but we have both learned to not risk over exerting himself."

"You trained a lot, didn't you?" Bucky questioned. Loki nodded.

"We had only been in space for a few weeks or so when Ego got a hold of Clint. Because of the amount of magic Clint can work with, I needed to get him to learn quickly. Now, he refused to learn the normal simple spells that any magic user works with. He went straight to higher levels of magic. His... Stubbornness had him going at times till he dropped. Many times I had to allow him to take some of my magic," Loki explained. When Bucky tilted his head in even deeper curiosity, Loki smirked. "Our magic replenishes with rest, so it did not fully bother me to help him."

"Ah," Bucky replied. Steve sighed and stood, heading out into the yard, a pained expression on his face. In his absence, conversation continued. After a moment, Bucky moved to follow his friend, his own upset expression reflecting the Captain. Loki frowned at that but didn't follow follow them. They must be talking about something important to want privacy. And indeed, outside Steve and Bucky were having a conversation that would end up changing things around here.

"What are Uncle Steve and Uncle Bucky talking about?" Lila wondered when she got close enough to see them outside. Bucky seemed rather upset but Steve looked determined, if not pained.

"Whatever they are talking about is something we will not ask them about," Laura pressed. "Why don't you go help with dishes?"

"Mom," Lila whined. Laura gave her a stern look and with a roll of her eyes, Lila headed to the kitchen. After that, Laura looked to the super soldiers on her porch before focusing on Loki. Loki sighed.

"I didn't say anything," he informed. Laura smiled.

"I didn't say you did," she chuckled. Loki snorted. "Pietro was looking for help in the fields, if you wanted something to do."

Loki nodded, understanding that she was giving him an excuse to see what they were bothered about. As he headed out and passed Bucky and Steve as he went, Loki couldn't help but overhear what they were saying. Especially considering neither of them stopped talking.

"Stevie, I don't know. What if we are wrong?" Bucky muttered as the trickster passed. Steve sighed as Loki found his interest starting to perk up. But he forced himself to move to the stairs, slipping between them. Neither seemed to care.

"I know, but we have to," Steve argued. Loki paused. That sounded highly interesting. Steve wasn't the type to do something he didn't fully believe in. So, what could he be wanting to do that upset him so much?

"Have to what?" the Lie-smith wondered, unable to help himself. Steve grimaced. "Rogers?"

Slowly, Steve took a small stone out of his pocket. Loki took one glance at it before looking to Steve in surprise. He opened his mouth to question it but then frowned. Carefully thinking, Loki closed his eyes, focusing on a long unused spell. After a moment, he understood. Slowly, he looked up toward where Clint had gone to sleep and then returned his gaze to Bucky and Steve. Both soldiers nodded. Loki sighed.

"Be careful," he replied even though he knew they'd succeed. But, they'd have to be careful with how the others would react. Loki doubted many of them wouldn't take whatever excuses that had to say. And Loki knew, this had to happen, no matter what anyone felt like. Steve exhaled deeply.

"I don't want to," Bucky mumbled. Loki moved and placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder. While the trickster hadn't seen that much detail, Loki knew that Steve and Bucky will become highly close with the archer.

"If it happened already, it has to happen again," the trickster informed. Bucky groaned and looked to Steve. The Captain had a small sad smile on his face. There was nothing either of them could do. It happened. They both knew that. So, as Loki said. It had to happen again.

"You're gonna explain it to the others," the soldier demanded, giving in. Steve nodded, putting the stone away and heading back inside. The first person to speak to had to be Clint's wife. Bucky and Loki watched as Steve pulled Laura aside. A moment later, Laura gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth. Steve's face pinched and after a few more words, Laura tearfully nodded. "They're gonna hate us."

"I'll help explain," Loki promised, intent on not destroying the Avengers once again. He needed them ready to work together once again. Being split would not do well at all.

* * *

"Who the hell are you?" someone demanded. Clint jackknifed up, looking around in surprise. This wasn't his bedroom anymore. Hell, he wasn't even in a bed. He was laying on an extremely uncomfortable couch. Shocked, the archer turned to who had spoken and paused.

"Bucky?"

* * *

**And we are done! As I said last week, I was going to be late. But I had a good reason. Yesterday, we had a reservation at the Coral Reef in EPCOT at Walt Disney World. Following that, I accidentally fell into a nap along side Darius. Then we went to Villains after Dark at the Magic Kingdom till like 2 in the morning. IT WAS AN AWESOME EVENT!**

**Surprisingly enough, Darius has been doing excellent! Was wonderful on the plane flight down. Hardly bothered anyone but hubby and me. Then, even at the hotel he's doing great. Isn't getting as upset easily as other times. Currently, we hadn't tired him out much so he's like being nutso all behind me and bothering hubby and I. Nothing as bad as at home, but still. Hubby and Darius also had a small accident with the ceiling fan. Darius was on top of hubby's shoulders and when he went to get Darius off, they had gotten too close to the fan. It smacked into Darius (unsure where exactly as my back was turned to them at the time) and a blade completely snapped off. Calling Disney's Services for a way to get it fixed was so impressive. They were far more worried about how Darius was doing than the actual damage to the room. In fact, they even did a wellness call this morning. I missed it, but still, the thoughtfulness is outstanding. Today we went to Star Wars land. Didn't actually do anything there. Bought a few toys (Sabacc and a puzzle cube). Hubby and I also tried Blue Milk and Green Milk. Hubby liked the blue, while I liked the green. Got a spiced hot chocolate. It was like 70 degrees so I never finished it, but it was good. Also, the soda is mostly packaged like a small bomb. Awesome! Hoping to get to the park early tomorrow to get tickets for one of the rides. If not, I can at least get something else done.**


End file.
